The world is heading towards a triple crisis of climate change, depleted natural resources and rocketing food prices. Zambia is amongst the most vulnerable countries, and yet Zambia is highly unprepared to handle the crisis, warns ActionAid.
ActionAid´s new report “On the Brink: Who is best prepared for a climate and hunger crisis?”, released today, warns that as the global population hits 7 billion this month a triple crisis could dwarf the world’s ability to feed them all. Based on new research in 28 poor countries, including Zambia, the report reveals which poor nations are most vulnerable, which nations are prepared for this triple crisis and which are perilously close to the brink. The report states that Zambia is close to the brink. Zambia is ranked number 6 amongst the 10 most vulnerable countries together with DRC, Burundi, South Africa, Haiti, Bangladesh, India, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Rwanda.
The ActionAid report shows that Zambia is s highly unprepared due to the country’s lack of effective policies to fight and reduce the high levels of hunger combined with the weak implementation of climate adaptation plans. Several decades of government neglect to agriculture have left small-scale farmers in Zambia struggling without effective extension services or access to fertilisers and seed stock. Lack of access to financial services, transport and markets has further stagnated the country’s agricultural productivity. Zambia faces chronic malnutrition; 43% of the country’s citizens are not getting enough to eat. And more than 45% of children under the age of 5 are stunted due to chronic malnutrition. With dire climate impacts predicted and land degradation and environmental concerns also worsening, things are likely to get worse.
ActionAid International Zambia Country Director Pamela Chisanga says:
“Climate change is one of the biggest challenges that Zambia and the world faces today, the huge negative impacts of climate change are affecting Zambian farmers already today, especially small scale women farmers. However climate changes and their impacts on our agriculture productivity and food production have been politically neglected in Zambia for too long. We urge President Michael Sata and his new government to prioritise climate change and the agriculture sector. Government has to commit itself to implementing climate change adaptations plans, as well as investing in sustainable agricultural projects, which will help the country prevent a hunger crisis.”
The Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) says that Southern Africa, including Zambia, is highly threatened by multiple climate change. Experts foresee that shorter growing periods due to climate changes will hit the southern Africa area and reliable crop growing days will drop to critical levels, which might make cropping too risky to pursue as a livelihood.
“Zambian natural resources have provided a great boost to our economy in previous years, however the extractive industries together with unsustainable agriculture, soil erosion and forest degradation are great negative contributors to how well we are prepared for a future of depleted natural resources and changing weather patterns, due to climate change. Combined, these negative contributors will be an even greater challenge to our agricultural production. Policies that ensure sustainable productivity and growth are needed today not tomorrow if Zambia wants to secure itself against a climate and hunger crisis. Later this week Zambia and the world celebrates World Food Day and Rural Farmers day, let’s celebrate our farmers by committing ourselves to deliver policies which will help rural communities cope with climate shocks and hunger crisis and not by making empty promises.” says Pamela Chisanga.
ActionAid’s key findings reveal that:
At least 10 countries, accounting for more than 1.5 billion of the world’s population, are highly vulnerable to a climate-related food crisis. Zambia is ranked number 6 out of the ten most vulnerable countries. Overall, climate change could add another half a billion people to those facing chronic hunger around the world by 2050. Every rural community surveyed across Africa, Asia and the Americas said that erratic and extreme weather was crippling their ability to feed themselves.
Unsustainable farming practices and an unprecedented rush from foreign investors to control resources such as minerals, oil, biofuel and water, could leave millions of the poorest people without enough arable land to produce food. In Africa alone, over 6 million hectares of degraded farmland must be regenerated to meet the demand for food from a population set to double by 2050.
A dangerous new era of high food prices is set to push 44 million more people into poverty. The demand for biofuel – produced from wheat, corn, soybean and sugarcane – means that food prices will keep rising unless rich countries find alternative sources of energy.
Brazil scored top of ActionAid’s preparedness survey by announcing US$10 billion to support small scale farms, enshrining the right to food in its constitution and making national plans to climate proof its agriculture. Rwanda has set an ambitious 25 year plan to reverse land and forest degradation. And Malawi is promoting organic fertilisers, building up a nation-wide system of food reserves and drafting a national adaptation plan to help rural communities cope with climate shocks.
ActionAid urges world leaders meeting at next month’s G20 to put the triple crisis at the top of the agenda. It is calling for: greater investment in small farms in poor countries where the majority of poor people’s food is grown; immediate delivery of the climate cash needed to help poor farmers climate-proof their agriculture; binding cuts in rich countries’ carbon emissions; the creation of a system of pan-regional food reserves and the immediate elimination of biofuel targets that are driving land grabs in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
interesting.I’m sure our president will address this issue within 90 days
I DONT BELIEVE THIS…..WHY ZAMBIA RATED 6 WHEN THERE ARE COUNTRIES FAR BELOW THE POVERTY DATUM LINE…WAKE UP GUYS….WE DONT WANT POLITICS SO EARLY…
And am surprised to see SA mentioned there! Is Togo well able to do than us? Can’t see Somalia there
I am sure its too late for Zambia to do something to mitigate the expected effects of climatic change.
READ THE BIBLE OF THESE TIMES AND FOLLOW.1 ITS TRUE ZAMBIA MAY FALL IN THIS CATEGORY. 2. ITS A WAY OF THE 666 GUYS TO BOND POOR COUNTRIES TO FOOD FOR RESOURCE (COPPER ETC) LIKE PHARAOH,S EGYPT DURING THE FAMINE
But if we as a nation follow the Lord Jesus we shall be saved. All Africa needs is leaders that think with their brains and have no inferiority complexes. Plan our own food security and sacrifice for the future with our own home made machinery, education and we are set; but alas our government opposition and ruling might lack people with our mindset.
@Guevara. Ummm. Cool down with your 666 interpretation.
I dont believe The Actionaid report :-?. Its flawd. Or it needs serious qualification/explanation. We have had 2 bumper harvests in a roll and our food is even going to worst.
Yeh, yeh, whatever.
Alarmist! It will not come to Zambia.
look a us guys, if the world could no longer suport its population then definaly UK, France the US and other over populated countries will be the first ones to die. these people have broaght drugs in the name of family planning because we are too many. who said 13million or 12935000 pipo to be precise is too much for the 752,518 sqkm? if it is let countries like spain hear it first they have 46,030,109 pipo on a land smaller than ours 504,030 sqkm with less water. look at this pipo lets remove the ambililcal cord they have attached to us and start growin on our own. we are simply a lab. i feel for our women who take these birth control pills.heaaches whole day everyday.
#6 i agree with you i also dont believe this.
This is really upsetting and that leave maize to go to waste, villagers dont know were to sell the bumper harvests too. Come on people, you don’t need anybody to tell you, “you will need to eat tomorrow so please stock up” Amano pali copper fye. Are you going to eat that copper.
….less we forget of our “yellow maize” days in Zambia. You have got nothing to loss but everything to gain from this information.
The world will be fine. These are terror tactics ala Y2K.
If people stop going to Mt. Kilimanjaro and the North Pole the ice will return there.
ActionAid is smelling danger where there is none at all.
Firstly, this phenomenon of climate change is losing it’s base of supporters by the day. If at all it exists, then the effects in Zambia and the entire continent are far less dramatic than they would be in the heavily industrialised countries.
Another thing ActionAid seems to ignores is the fact that the western countries are the ones that oppress developing countries with their selfish and discriminative market policies against the poor farmers of African countries.
I do agree with this analysis. We have weak policies, and even non-implementation of those very weak policies ensure safety to the citizens incase a disaster hits our country. This is evidenced by the fact that if just 1 year of drought comes our way. The lack of disaster management policies leave a lot of our people vulnerable. This revelation is good because it will make our politicians to seriously plan to put measures in place to counterract such impending and life-costing disasters.
Somalia is not on the list, very stupid researchers.
I would like to view this report on climate change as an eye opener for our political leaders and national planners to be proactive. What is happening in Kenya and Somalia is actually real, may be unprecedented though I do recall such disater hapened in kenya in 1984. For example when did we ever had rainfall end of september? Even now it looks like end of November. As it is Zambia is not ready to adapt to the current rainfall situation believing the actual rains will come in November. But who knows, the rains have started 1st week of October and may end in January! What would happen to Zambia?
believe it or not, the choice is yours, as for me and my household we shall trust the LORD!
There is no sense in this report
But if we as a nation follow the Lord Jesus we shall be saved. All Africa needs is leaders that think with their brains and have no inferiority complexes. Plan our own food security and sacrifice for the future with our own home made machinery, education and we are set; but alas our government opposition and ruling might lack people with our mindset. As easy as 123.
No# 13 Nubian princess you have made my day hahahahahahahaha. Though that is very true.
While the report is useful and will enable governmet speed up its actions on climate change, it is entirely not true to conclude that Government has not been serious in addressing agriculture and climate change. In fact, ActionAid would require to check with Government institutions before they conclude on certain sisues like implementation of adaptation plans. Government has done several things to address climate change; National Adaptation Programme of Action 2007, one project already implemented in agric, SNDP is climate proofed, World Bank funded 110 miluion USD for climate resilience, economics of climate change i Zambia study quantified problem, awareness on issue quite high,etc. Report is useful and projetions could be correct but conclusions errorneus, consult local experts on issu
Ati Bumper harvesteeeei? every year these guys boasted of bumper harvest, maize goes to waste and yet people are starving. Our new presido will surely resolve this!
Just a bit more local research and fact finding before publishign such reports would add to their credibility. I am not disputing that a population growth, climate change and hunger crisis could eb emminent and related. But conclude that the country’s vulnerability is puirely because Government has not done much begs explanation. There are several factors at play and at the very least, one could acknowledge steps that have been taken and indicae their shortcomings!!!
First of all, the state should look at ‘ActionAid’ license to operate in the country.
This is a fake crisis. Since when did ‘climate change’ and ‘deplete natural resources’ become a problem today, that the government must solve ‘right now’? Then, ‘rocketing food prices’ are a global problem, because they have a single cause that has nothing to do with Zambia – which is the rampant speculation on financial markets.
So unless ActionAid has a practical solution to all of the above they also want to share, my impression is that they want to create an atmosphere in which the government is discredited, because they won’t have an immediate answer to very general and global problems.
I really do not understant these proponents of climate change. One scientist said that Earth regulates its tempratues through wild fires if it senses that the global tempratures have gone down, or it will melt the glaciers if the earth temparaute becomes too high. I know man has meesed up earth but not to the extent these climatist tend to potray. Imagine they have even duped our govt to punish us for owning car through the carbon tax. Am not an expert on this stuff but i strognly feel that this is just a ploy by the west to stifle our development.
” The ActionAid report shows that Zambia is s highly unprepared due to the country’s lack of effective policies to fight and reduce the high levels of hunger combined with the weak implementation of climate adaptation plans. ”
Well who has been in power for 20 years, and whose policies did they carry out – the IMF and World Bank’s. So if ActionAid wants to be of help, those are the institutions they should be looking at.
The PF has to prioritise the Zambian people’s agenda, not some unelected NGO’s agenda.
We are in bumber harvest dont forget and pull us into thinking that we are a poor country,We have what it takes and we are consolidating just concentrate on poor countries in the west and asia no land and fresh water!we are on couse and we dont need someone to demolise us,VIVA ba SATA!
frankly..very mixed rubbish in this report. reports are useless if they don’t reach the people who need to act on time and going by the wording ” at the brink ” its too late and really what can we do about climate change…? embark on a 25yrs plan like malawi..is it?..just shut up.
Too alarmist. Let us just keep on doing the best we can. Use and conserve water responsibly, use the land properly… reclaim it and try to avoid “drugging” it with destructive chemicals, and watch against the impact of pollution from the mining activities in the country by demanding the same safe methods obtaining in developed countries.
This report should not tempt us into workshops. Read it and set it aside!
Please Mr. President,
Allow those of us with a small savings abroad to come to Zambia. We would like to come to Zambia and embark on food production projects. I’ve been planning my chickens, pigs, vegetables and maize project for 10 years now. I’ve already ear marked a plot in Kafubu Block, Luanshya. I estimate that I’ll employ 10 people full time and about twice that seasonally. In addition, some of us are married to Zambians, and our wives want to come back home. Please, please relax the immigration laws!!!! Many small projects like mine…will eventually lead to self sufficiency. The knowledge we bring, will teach the youths life skills.
Which one is this analyst when did he start using the analyst name?
The west and the chinese are in panic mode, they are the ones with no resources to feed their booming populations. There are 13million of us and billions of them, per sq km their population density is unsustainable but they use stories like these to back us into a corner. We will be alright. They already arent.
am supporting ba profit am not happy as well to be here when we have our country people thinks when you are abroad at nizi nikufifi bakalamba we want to come home and do something to our land.That issue of 666 my friend you are not God even the air you are breathing you dont even no were it is coming from don’t trable your self..only God knows…..
I think that what pipo are missing are the basics the report is raising – the projection is obviously not tomorrow, but we will definitely need more than 25 years to repair damage to our environment. Zambia, and many other poor countries are suffering from effects of global warming caused by emissions of rich countries – I agree with the report that these countries need to pay to support countries like Zambia prepare for eventualities. The funds received for climate change are a good indication. Having read the report, I see that in terms of areas such as this, we are rated ‘B’, but its in areas like not having right to food in the constitution where we rate E, no adequate social protection, etc. We can rubbish this all we want, but based on current realities – these are the projections
Zambia, with a tiny population, contributes very little to carbon emissions and sinks a lot of carbon at the same time via our trees. We should keep this up but not be warned by Western mass polluters who have massive populations and have cut down all their trees already
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