EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Due to the severe El Niño-induced drought affecting the region, the worst in 35 years, as well as floods, an estimated 40 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Out of this, 23 million require immediate humanitarian assistance. In response to this, the Southern African Development Community is appealing for $2.4 billion to support the humanitarian needs of the affected population in some of the Countries. The appeal is in support of on-going planned efforts by SADC Member States and covers all relevant sectors in an effort to enable a holistic approach to the drought, addressing immediate multisectoral humanitarian needs as well as referencing longer term developmental and resilience-building requirements. The international community is hereby formally requested to provide assistance to affected Member States with gaps in their humanitarian response. These are Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This document firstly provides an overview of the crisis, current and future risks and vulnerabilities. Secondly, it provides specific sectoral discussions of the implications as regards that particular sector, links with other sectors and recommendations. Thirdly, it provides a summary of the response to date, an analysis of preparedness and response capacity, a discussion on resilience looking beyond the immediate needs, with the final element of the appeal constituting country specific profiles and needs. An estimated 14 per cent of the SADC population is food insecure, according to the Vulnerability Assessment Results released at the 10th Meeting of the Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis (RVAA) held in Pretoria on 10 June 2016. Nearly 2.7 million children are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the region. Of this figure 2 million children are in DRC. In some countries, such as Malawi, it is expected that the food insecurity, coupled with reductions in safe drinking water and sanitation, projected increases in communicable diseases and changes in child care practices will result in increased number of children in need of support. This requires a range of interventions, most critically, the identification, treatment and management of moderate and severe cases of malnutrition. Interventions for the prevention of acute malnutrition will also need to be scaled up. The severe drought conditions have resulted in widespread crop failure, poor harvests and loss of livelihoods. Cereal harvest assessments indicate nearly 9.3 million tonnes regional shortfall in production. South Africa, usually the main producer of maize in the region, is facing 1.6 million tonnes deficit. Zambia is the only country currently forecasting a cereal surplus (835,000 tonnes) during the 2016/17 marketing year. Livestock, which is a key source of livelihoods for many communities, have not been spared. More than 643,000 drought-related livestock deaths have been reported in Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe alone due to lack of pasture, lack of water and disease outbreaks. Food and nutrition security and strengthening livelihoods are the greatest need. It is estimated that 1.66 million tonnes of maize will be required for immediate food assistance over the next few months up until 2