The current food crisis affecting 13 million people in Southern Africa has been described as a complex emergency. Apart from drought, political factors such as land reform in Zimbabwe, poverty, and HIV/AIDS, have all deepened the emergency. A meeting of UN agencies, donors, NGOs and regional governments was held in South Africa last week to examine the crisis. IRIN spoke to Reggie Mugwara, director of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Harare-based Food and Natural Resources (FANR) unit. In the interview he criticised regional governments for not learning the lessons of the last great food crisis in 1991/92. Given the impact of economic reform programmes, and the realities of the increased vulnerability of rural households, he called for a re-think of agricultural policies - gearing them to benefit smallholder farmers. He also urged a regional response to tackle the crisis of food security.:
