The number of people facing food shortage in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) bloc has gone up by 13 per cent from 24.28 million in 2013/14 to 27.41 million this year.
SADC Secretariat's Director of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mrs Margaret Nyirenda, told Southern Africa Documentation and Research Centre sponsored journalists ahead of the 35th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit, that the number of vulnerable people increased due to poor food production blamed on climate change.
Mrs Nyirenda said food production in most parts of the region is slowing down because of unfavourable climate conditions, increase in population, people's poor health, rapid urbanisation, high poverty levels and resource degradation, among others.
Tanzania's current population stands at over 45 million with an annual increase of 2.8 per cent, of which only four million are farmers producing at subsistence level.
The country is not in a position to produce surplus food since there are significant variations in food security between different regions and districts, with some still facing hunger almost every year.
Surprisingly, in the 2011/2012 season, the agriculture sector budget was only 6.8 per cent of the total annual government budget. This allocation falls short of the national target of at least 10 per cent as agreed by African Union Heads of Government meeting under Maputo Declaration of 2003.
