Synopsis
February 2003. In six countries in southern Africa, nearly 20 million people are on the verge of famine. Malawi and Zimbabwe, are the worst affected. 6 million Malawians are starving and 3.6 million survive thanks to a massive food aid programme, distributed by the United Nations. Yet walking through this lush countryside of cornfields and fruit trees, famine is hard to imagine. How can such a thing be possible in Malawi? Is a 2-year rain shortage the only explanation? Are there political or economic reasons for this nightmare? This film investigates the reasons that caused the deaths of between 30,000 to 40,000 people from February 2002 to February 2003. Startling confessions by high-ranking officials show how dignitaries were drinking champagne in their luxury villas whilst people were obliged to eat toxic plant roots.
