Two million face food shortages

About 2.3 million Zambians are in need of food aid, a Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) joint assessment has found. The report, based on a crop and food supply assessment mission conducted during May, said the 2002 output of the main staple maize is estimated at 606,000 mt, 24 percent below last year's poor harvest and 42 percent lower than the normal crop of 2000. The two organisations said the country needed 174,000 mt of food aid in the coming months to feed about 21 percent of the total population. "Unless relieved by food assistance, the coming months will be very critical for large numbers of low-income households who have exhausted their coping mechanisms as a result of last year's poor harvest," the report said. The FAO/WFP report added that the most affected area was the Southern Province, where 60 percent of the population is estimated to be in need of food relief. Irregular rainfall had hampered agricultural activity in the southern parts of the country. "The 2001/02 rainy season started well. However, from December onwards, rains were insufficient, erratic and poorly distributed, especially in the southern parts where precipitation amounted to only 30-60 percent of normal," the report said. It recommended that agricultural inputs, such as seeds, should be urgently provided to allow drought-affected farming families to restart their agricultural production during the main planting season of 2002/2003. The report said the widespread failure of crops meant people in affected regions had to develop coping mechanisms and alternative strategies to get food, such as poaching, fishing and selling charcoal. "Migration to towns is also increasing in the Central and Eastern provinces. Border communities are engaged in cross border trading and piecework. In Southern Province families collect, sell and consume wild foods. Many families are also reducing daily meals," the two food organisations said. The report said that the food crisis had already impacted on the young and people living with HIV/AIDS. "In some areas of Lusaka and the Southern provinces, the hunger situation has made children stay away from school and most of the under five children are so malnourished that their growth and mental development will be impaired. "Nearly every community assessed by the mission indicated that these people [HIV positive] were the most vulnerable in the village. Communities in Lusaka Province also mentioned that there was a high number of AIDS orphans in the community, which has increased the household size and thus the household level of food security." Despite recent figures which show an improvement in the economy, the 2001 UN Development Programme (UNDP) Development Report puts Zambia as one of the poorest countries on the continent with about 63 percent of its population living on the equivalent of US $1 or less a day. Rapid inflation combined with a sharp devaluation of the local currency the kwacha in the last decade, has eroded the purchasing power of households, worsening the food security problem in the country.