Deteriorating food security situation raises concern

The World Food Programme (WFP) expects the number of people in need of food aid in Zambia to rise to between 1.7 million and 2 million, and the government has now made an urgent appeal for assistance. WFP country director David Stevenson told IRIN the Zambian government had sent out an appeal to the international community this week, "indicating that urgent assistance is needed due to the crop failures in the southern part of the country". Zambia's population is roughly 11 million. Stevenson said the situation was deteriorating rapidly in the drought-prone south, "and we do not have enough resources to meet the need, so there's increasing concern of malnutrition and other food-related problems". A recent news report that eight people had died of hunger-related illnesses, though incorrect, was "symptomatic of the problem, and we can expect a lot more concerning news coming out of districts of Zambia," Stevenson noted. "People are in critical need of lifesaving assistance and the situation is much worse than what was originally envisaged, due to crop failure and the very limited household assets available to hungry people in south," Stevenson warned. Many were relying on wild leaves, fruits and roots to survive, which could have severe consequences for their health. The Zambia Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZAMVAC), led by the government and assisted by international agencies such as WFP and various NGOs, carried out a comprehensive survey of needs in June that estimated some 1.2 million people would need food assistance until early next year. The government has announced that it would be contributing US $8 million, a third of the funds needed to meet food aid requirements, but much more assistance was needed, Stevenson said. He added that a ZAMVAC assessment team "has gone out again to reassess the problem, and it is anticipated that needs will increase to between 1.7 million to 2 million people".