1. Afghanistan | A severe drought has been affecting most of the country since early 2021. It has crippled crop production and livestock leading to critical food shortages. Nearly 20 million Afghans are deprived of food currently, as per reliefweb.int. The annual water supply in Afghanistan relies largely on winter precipitation in the mountains that accumulates as glaciers, snow, and ice. This has been severely affected by global warming in recent years and has resulted in one of the worst droughts in the country in decades. 2. Angola | Angola is also facing the worst recorded drought in 40 years. About 1.58 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the IPC analysis. The drought in Southern Angola is aggravated by climate change and the land diversion to commercial cattle farming. These risks make the region one of the most drought-prone areas in the world. 3. Brazil | Prolonged dry conditions in Brazil have caused the worst drought of the century in central and southern parts in 2021. The drought caused crop losses, water scarcity, and increased fire activity in the Amazon. According to a New York Times report, the drought risks in Brazil are increased due to a shift in rain patterns affected by La Niña, a weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, climate change, and deforestation in the Amazon forest and other biomes. 4. Burkina Faso | The Sahel region of Burkina Faso is experiencing the worst drought in over a decade. Over 10.5 million people have been plunged into malnutrition. In the past, Burkina experienced frequent extremes of climate and the droughts in the 1970s caused a serious famine, leading to deaths and major livestock losses. Although famine has been less severe since then, the region remains one of the most drought-prone areas due to its geolocation and effects of climate change. 5. Chile | Chile entered the 13th year of a record-breaking drought with no rain falling on the Chilean soil. This is the country’s worst drought in 60 years which has forced the government to ration water for its citizens. Despite possessing one-third of the Latin American glaciers, human activity, climate change and privatisation/hoarding of water have led to the crisis in the country. 6. Ethiopia | Ethiopia also faces its worst drought in decades. The adverse weather conditions brought about by El Niño have led to two consecutive failures of the rainy seasons. Over 10 million people need assistance in Ethiopia's lowland area, which includes the Somali and Oromia regions. The drought has led to a 20 percent increase in cases of "severe acute malnutrition" in children, the UNICEF said. Climate change leading to global warming, reduced rainfall, coupled with deforestation and change in the land make Ethiopia one of the most drought-prone countries. 7. Iraq | The damage from desertification has been the worst in Iraq. Climate change and mismanagement by the government have led to recurrent sandstorms making parts of the country unliveable. Iraq has suffered three years of drought and has been the most vulnerable to climate change. The condition is so severe that after months of extreme drought a 3,400-year-old city was rediscovered on the edge of the reservoir, Mosul Dam. Iraq’s ‘pearl of the south’ Lake Sawa has also dried up amid the water crisis.
