LUSAKA, Zambia

An estimated 68 million people across the Southern African region have been affected by the effects of an El Nino-induced drought and are in need of urgent relief food, the Southern African Community Development (SADC) organization said on Saturday.

Executive Secretary Elias Magosi told the 44th SADC summit in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare that the 68 million formed 17% of the region's population, which is in need of humanitarian support.

The drought severely ravaged the region’s crops with a $5.5 billion humanitarian appeal launched in May, seeking assistance to support the drought response.

Other effects of the drought include a severe energy shortage, with countries such as Zambia, which has declared the drought a disaster, looking to imports from neighboring states to keep the economy running.

Former SADC chair Joao Lourenco, Angola’s president who passed on the role to Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, said more is still needed to be done to pool resources together in order to help the affected states.

The summit, which coincided with the commemoration of SADC Day, was held under the theme, Promoting innovation to unlock opportunities for sustained economic growth and development towards an industrialized SADC.

Handing over the chairpersonship to Mnagagwa, Lourenco reflected on a number of strides undertaken during his tenure, pushing the agenda for regional integration through interconnected infrastructure projects.

Mnagangwa hailed the work of his predecessor and pledged to build on the gains by rallying member states to continue forging strategic ties for regional development.

The meeting also discussed the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, considered to be a major peace and security concern for the bloc.