Crop assessment needed after drought hits maize output

The development agency, CARE, has called for an urgent assessment of food security in Zambia amid warnings of a serious drought-related fall in maize production. CARE director Brenda Cupper told IRIN she had witnessed the impact of a dry spell during a key stage of the maize-growing season on a recent tour of Kalomo, Kazungula and Livingstone districts in the south of the country. "In the areas I visited, very late in the growing season, crops are stunted and wilting. No question - there will be major crop failure in areas of Southern province," she said. She urged donors to endorse a recent vulnerability assessment committee recommendation for an immediate crop assessment. "In that way, Zambia can take advantage of the substantial lessons learned, and best practices from previous years, ensuring a rapid, appropriate and efficient response," Cupper said. Southern Zambia has faced recurrent drought-related food shortages. The World Food Programme (WFP) regional vulnerability analysis and mapping advisor, Joyce Kanyangwa Luma, told IRIN the Zambian government was expected to request a UN crop and food supply assessment mission (CFSAM) to verify food aid needs. It was possible that the scope of a CFSAM would be broadened to include an examination of the underlying causes of vulnerability in Zambia, as the latest food security setback follows a remarkable agricultural recovery in the southern African nation over the previous two years. "The major concern at the moment is that we were expecting a good year this year; we [WFP] were preparing for recovery activities, rather than emergency [food aid distributions] but, due to the early stoppage of rains at a critical point in the growing season, we may have to revisit our [operational] plans for 2005/06," Luma said. "It is worrying, as the coping capacities of people have been very weak and eroded over the past few years ... and the situation is very difficult for many households," she added.