A Consortium of Civil Society Organisations has warned that Zambia is off-target and may not achieve the African Union target of halving poverty, ending hunger, and reducing child stunting to 10 percent and underweight to 5 percent by 2025.
The Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance, and Civil Society for Poverty Reduction have further said that Zambia is also off-track in achieving the Nutrition 4 growth targets which pledge to drive greater action towards ending malnutrition and helping to ensure everyone, everywhere can reach their full potential.
Speaking at a joint media briefing, CSO-SUN Country Coordinator Mathews Mhuru bemoaned Zambia’s slow pace towards reducing malnutrition at only 1 percent on an annual basis.
Mr. Mhuru says all the documents that support nutrition have expired among them the National Food and Nutrition Commission Strategic Plan and the first 1,000 most critical days programme.
He has since urged the new dawn government to lead actions to tackle nutrition as a matter of urgency which should include demonstrating a commitment to nutrition through action and financial commitment.
Meanwhile, Mr Mhuru has charged that the increase in fuel pump prices will affect the delivery of President Hakainde Hichilema campaign promise of ensuring that citizens have three meals a day.
And SNV Nutrition Programs Manager, Tendai Gunda is saddened that currently in Zambia, one out of three children is stunted.
Ms Gunda states that as an act of commitment, the government should establish a high-level governance structure of the Special Committee of Permanent Secretaries to coordinate actions on nutrition under the management of the Vice President as required by the National Food and Nutrition Security Act. She has further challenged the government to present to the nation, the actions to be taken to ensure Zambians have three decent meals daily, starting now
May??? Zambia will not achieve the target. Period.
It won’t surprise anyone who is sufficiently informed. Development is a ground up process. It starts with a population whose majority has mastered hw to organize and work the land productively to produce food and cash crops. Then industrialisation comes in to make tradeable goods from agricultural raw materials using its own scientists and engineers. From there u move on to high-value goods using surpluses from agro-based industries.
Definitely not with the past 7 years of that corrupt fraud convict moron lungu and his gang………..
Lungus gang of advisors and ministers comprised either outright thives or equally clueless morons……….
Lungu is gone stop blaming bygones. What is your plan for the future /from now onwards
The word is WILL. Not May. You think 2025 is far? Even 2030 is a mirage… no visions will be achieved there either.
New Dawn government won’t achieve the target for 2025, not for anyone being bad, but because HH and his ministers have proven to be a gang of indecisive amateurs
Ofcourse it won’t. Reason being is that the real leadership that is capable of achieving such only took reigns last year , 2025 is 3years away – so even for you mr editor what did u achieve in 3yrs in your own house? Maybe a fridge and a ka cooker na ka sofa. So 2025 is impossible don’t even talk of it and don’t tell me of PF years when this target was signed to – those were wasted years and let’s not talk of them. We start counting now from 2022.this is the first full year for the UPND so 2022-2025 is equal to 3yrs.