Zambians face food crisis
Zambians face food crisis
(IRIN) – After two years of surplus agricultural
production, Zambia has experienced a dramatic downturn and will need significant
international assistance, said James Morris, the UN Secretary-General’s Special
Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa.Prolonged dry spells during the
last growing season had resulted in crop yields being reduced by up to 90% in
some districts, the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement at the end of
Morris’ two-day visit to the country.”Zambia has made progress in strengthening
its agricultural output over the last two years. It is unfortunate that these
severe dry spells have had a massive impact on this year’s production. Sadly, it
is a pattern that we are seeing in many parts of Southern Africa, and widespread
relief assistance will be required,” Morris was quoted as saying.In the last two
years, Zambia produced significant maize surpluses, enabling WFP to purchase
over 150,000 mt (worth US $30million) of food for its aid programmes in other
parts of southern Africa.Jo Woods, a WFP spokeswoman in the capital, Lusaka,
told IRIN that the downturn in agricultural production was “really due to the
lack of rain”.”Most people used fertiliser this year; farm subsidies were
provided by the government; people were using conservation farming methods. They
had a good go at doing things right: they put the seed in at the right time –
some people replanted two or three times – but it was just the lack of rain that
was the main problem,” she said.Apart from the weather, the poor harvest was
“once again, compounded by other factors, like HIV/AIDS”.The government of
Zambia, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, WFP, and NGOs are analysing
assessment results to determine the extent of the agricultural shortfall and the
number of people who will require assistance over the next year.