The United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) is seeking to raise around $400 million to buy corn for South African countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, which have seen a significant decline in their grain harvests due to El Niño. The harvest in Zimbabwe was only 30% of the average annual amount, while in Zambia and Malawi, the harvest was severely damaged. The WFP intends to purchase around 290,000 tons of corn from Mexico and Ukraine to address the shortage.