Caritas has warned that Zambia is facing one of its first droughts in decades and 2.3 million people urgently need help.
Caritas is appealing for E745,000 to support communities as they cope with the impact of the drought and help them build resilience against future climate crises.
“Caritas Zambia has been responding to the devastating effects of the drought by providing food to the affected communities,” says Musamba Mubanga, Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation programme specialist from Caritas Zambia.
“We have also focused on providing solutions to water shortages in some areas. Furthermore, through the current emergency programme Caritas Zambia will help affected communities address food insecurity and also focus on building their resilience to further droughts.”
Not enough rain in the 2018-2019 period means that wells have dried up; families’ maize stores are empty and livestock have died in the south of the country.
Many families can’t even afford to eat one meal a day, crime has increased in affected areas and prices have also increased.
Children are deeply affected as they either drop out of school to go and sell food for their families or they have poor concentration at school due to hunger.
The lack of water has a triple effect on agriculture, health and nutrition.
Through its emergency programme, Caritas will provide cash transfers so vulnerable people can buy the food they need.
It will help establish village loan and savings groups so people can still afford food as prices rise. It will also help create activities where people can earn money.
Part of the year-long programme will be dedicated to boosting the nutrition of underweight children and ensuring communities understand the importance of good nutrition, especially in the young.
Nine thousand households will benefit from gardening activities, receiving training in making their crops more resilient, and they will receive drought-resilient and early-maturing seeds.
Making agricultural practices more robust in the face of climate threats is essential as 60 percent of the Zambian population rely on agriculture for their livelihood.
Livestock has been diminished not just because of the lack of pasture and water because of the drought but also because of foot and mouth disease, East Coast Fever and Anthrax.
There was a dry spell throughout December but currently there has been an abundance of rain with the potential to even lead to floods, most of the maize fields are promising across the country with a bumper harvest expected.
2020 vision, they are referring to previous year and the effects that is still in effect. Remember we have not yet harvested for this season and the problem is real. My suggestion to them is also mobilize locally. Tell us the account where small money can be donated for that good work you continue to do. God bless you
These are the same rogue and thieving organizations…the get the money and chew it themselves without giving it to intended victims
Drought or floods??
As others have asked is this report for this year or misplaced story from the archives. This year looks good by all standards of good rains. These are just conmen and women interested in unnecessary handouts from donors. And when they get the donantion they just pocket it ubomba mwibala.
Disaster!!!
Every year Africa is facing famines and droughts according to the west. This is to feed their addiction to poverty p.o.r.n
Ok. How is the rain situation in Southern Province? Nprmal or above normal? In other provinces, it is above normal
What the heck is Kz talking about?
Ubufi Ubufi Ubufi……Just begging for their pockets to tarnish govt image. Bridges are washed away, Floods and people have to be airlifted to safety, maize , soya groundnuts doing very well. What floods are you alarmists talking about? Bufi bwenu!!!
Eh!!! balipena ba CARITAS mwah???? Ngei yonse imfula na ma floods! Or could it be some old story that Lusaka Times fished out from their archieves?
CARITAS Zambia is opposite to what you are saying.Am disappointed with you
I doubt if the Kaizer Zulu is the true one……anyway I will talk to the real one and ask if he is the one writing . Kaizer is working at a high office and blogging can not be his job…. I wonder who this kaizer Zulu is….kz can sink so low…….
CARITAS you just want to line your pockets bane. This all very wrong, even if it was for last year, why now? Ni ka 10m Euros mwaumfwa. Ubufi bubi!!!
@ kaizar Zulu
Have you yourself understood what you were writing???
CARITAS are talking about the 2018-2019 season not the 2019-2020. Why cant people read and understand how the hydrological season and harvest periods work.
What kind of nonsense is this ai? My conclusion is that we are just a nation that’s comfortable with begging. We have received a lot of rains so far and people are busy lying that Zambia has experienced the worst drought? What rubbish. This is actually an insult to God who gives us rains because we don’t want to appreciate. The problem with donors is that they don’t do their own assessment and they will go back to their countries and ask their citizens to help some country in Africa that’s experiencing hunger due to a drought. Then white people will continue insulting us African while the money they donate is being eaten by a few people from those NGOs in Zambia
“Not enough rain in the 2018-2019 period means that wells have dried up; families’ maize stores are empty and livestock have died in the south of the country.” Why has Lusaka Times released this article now when it is clearly referring to the 2018/19 rainy season. The Zambezi River is 3700 m3/s as at 17/02/2020 compared to 500 m3/s last year on the same date.
Some editorial and a relevant picture would have helped. The ‘worst droughts’ in the heading which becomes ‘first droughts’ in the first sentence makes no sense. The accompanying photo does not show a field drying up but a neatly ploughed promising wet one. The current decade started in January 2020 so the piece is referring to the current situation not the past. The only explanation for its inappropriateness may be that LT forgot to publish it when it was written, in 2019 and only realised this now.
learn to harvest rain water