ZAMBIAN GOVERNMENT DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL DISASTER AND EMERGENCY

PRESS STATEMENT

  DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL DISASTER AND EMERGENCY

ActionAid Zambia commends President Hakainde Hichilema and the Zambian Government for declaring the current prolonged drought as national disaster and an emergency. 

The absence of rain will result in low crop production, particularly maize, and further strain the economic wellbeing and food security of the vulnerable communities. This declaration is timely and a direct response to a reality caused by climate change-induced disasters. 

Since the start of 2023 El Nino has devastated the agriculture sector and affected over 1 million farmers, with 90 percent being small-scale farmers.

The declaration by the President calls for action to alleviate the loss of lives due to hunger. However, ActionAid has observed the absence of adequate early warning systems that would have prevented the huge losses incurred by farmers especially in the southern part of the country due to drought. 

Having such a strong system would have prepared the farmers with regards to the kind of crops they would have planted to prevent crop failure and loss of financial resources. 

There is an urgent need for investment in early warning systems. The Government must increase allocation of resources to early warning systems to the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment in particular the Meteorological Department to prevent losses incurred during the El Nino and better prepare the farmers against future natural calamities. The Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) should be proactive.

The El Nino is a lesson learnt and calls for reflection on the need to re-look at the conventional farming practices. This calls for more investment in Agroecology to respond to climate change. 

The current El Nino is not the first, neither will it be the last, hence the urgency for adoption of agroecology as the conventional way of farming considering climate change.

Over one million hectors of crops have been destroyed due to drought while 84 of the 116 districts in the country have been affected.

ActionAid Zambia works with marginalized women, young people and children in communities and supports government initiatives meant to improve their social being and assist them drift from the   poverty circles.

Signed

Jovina Newanzake (Ms)

Interim Country Director-ACTIONAID ZAMBIA