ZAMBIA DECLARES STATE OF DISASTER AFTER DROUGHT DEVASTATES AGRICULTURE

Fri 01 March 2024:

President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia declared the current drought a national disaster, stating that the absence of rain had severely damaged the agricultural sector and affected over a million families.

At a time when farmers in southern Africa most need rain, the country has gone five weeks without any, Hichilema said on Thursday during a nationally televised speech from Lusaka, the capital.

President Hakainde Hichilema said the decision was made following an assessment of the prolonged drought, which has affected 84 of the country’s 116 districts. “The disaster and emergency are severe, and the government is responding with urgency,” he said during a national address on the drought situation.

With heavy hearts, we’ve declared a national disaster & emergency as our country faces severe drought, caused by the el Niño weather phenomenon, influenced by climate change. The prolonged dry spell has impacted both Zambia’s food & energy security that are our key priorities. pic.twitter.com/OKu8Zx62At

— Hakainde Hichilema (@HHichilema) February 29, 2024

He said that an assessment conducted revealed that about 1 million hectares out of the planted 2.2 million hectares of farmland have been impacted by the dry spell, affecting over 1 million farming households.

He noted that the situation entails a shift of resources toward humanitarian assistance and called for prudent resource utilization.

The government, he said, will implement measures to import electricity and rationing as the country faces an electricity deficit of 430 megawatts, which may reach 520 megawatts by December 2024. He also requested assistance from cooperating partners to moderate the negative effects of the drought caused by climate change.

The Zambian president said that the government, as a long-term measure, will enhance water harvesting mechanisms to enable precision and other irrigation development to stimulate agricultural production.

The 2024 national budget will be re-aligned so that more resources could be channelled towards addressing the impact of the drought, he added.

“The current projections are that over a million farming households will be affected,” he said.

Zambia defaulted three years ago and is trying to rework its debt under the G20 Common Framework, a programme designed to ensure swift and smooth debt overhauls for low-income nations.

Due to influence of El Nino on the 2023-2024 rainy season, Zambia has lost one million hectares (2.5 million acres) from 2.2 million planted crops.

The naturally occurring El Nino climate pattern, which emerged in mid-2023, usually increases global temperatures for one year afterwards. It is currently fuelling fires and record heat across the world.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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