SADC says poor rains, El Nino leave 28 million vulnerable

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said on Friday 28 million people in the region were rendered vulnerable and in urgent need of "food and non-food" relief after last year's poor rains were followed by an El Nino-triggered drought.

"The numbers are likely to increase in view of the current El Nino," SADC said in a statement after a regional food security meeting in Johannesburg.