Hunger is looming in three chiefdoms in Chadiza district in the Eastern province.
Chadiza Member of Parliament (MP), Allan Mbewe, confirmed the development to ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today.
Mr Mbewe named the affected chiefdoms as Chief Mulolo, Mwangala and Zingalume, where villagers are surviving on green mangoes, wild fruits and roots.
He attributed to the hunger situation in his area to some late delivery of farming inputs, which negatively affects production in district.
Mr Mbewe said the threat of hunger has worsened after relief food distributed by the Office of the Vice President to the area run out.
He said the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, DMMU, under the Office of the Vice President only distributed 100 metric tonnes of relief maize for household food requirements, which was inadequate.
“There is serious hunger in my area because the relief food has run out in people’s homes. I’m appealing to government to send more food relief before people starve to death. Villagers are now going in the forests picking wild fruits and other local wild roots to eat because they don’t have food to eat,” Mr Mbewe lamented.
The MP accused the DMMU officials in Chadiza district of politicizing the relief food at the expense of development.
Mr Mbewe advised that the relief food distribution programme is a government programme for vulnerable people, which should not be used for gaining political mileage.
He appealed to the Office of the DMMU headquarters in Lusaka to intervene and arrest the hunger situation before it gets out of hand.
Chadiza District experienced floods last seasopn, which destroyed crops and road infrastructure.
Meanwhile, government has sent 1,500 metric tonnes of fertilizer and 72 metric tonnes of feed maize to Chadiza district.
Mr Mbewe has confirmed and commended government for the gesture saying the inputs were received on Friday last week.
And Mr. Mbewe has projected a bumper harvest for the 2007/2008 farming season following the dispatching of the fertilizer in good time.
“I expect to yield a bumper harvest next year because government has given us fertilizer in good time and so every farmer should go back to the land as opposed to engaging in illicit activities like beer drinking and laziness,” declared Mr. Mbewe.
ZANIS/KC/ENDS/SJK
LETS LEARN TO STORE MAIZE, SELLING HELPS A BIT.
MMD do something!!
LT featured a story headlined “Eastern province records bumper harvest” just last week. What’s happening?
Nyama Soya dished out all the free mealie meal it is time chadizans started buying it now,
Geez!!! These famished blokes just voted Nyama Soya into office…So they should shut the hell up and endure the consequences…callous someone would say, but the rural undecated/uninformed just stall progress…Talema mweyy!
Nine chale, i was just thinking the same thing, its barely 2 weeks ago if not less when we read an aticle of bumper harvests in eastern province. by the way which season are they talking about?,is it 2007/8 or 2008/9 farming season as they cant predict before laying the seed in the ground, thats why vikanga badyela kumozi nambeu.or has chadiza moved?
Hunger is all over Zambia
WHERE ARE THOSE THAT ARGUE THAT THERE IS DEVELOPMENT IN ZAMBIA.
Resurfacing of roads in Lusaka and repainting of buildings is not development. Three quarters of Zambians are drowned in poverty. The Chadidza story is just one of many going thru the same.
Such stories make the MMD happy because they know that for as long as there is hunger, they will be seen as peoples saviours when they take maize to these areas. In return people will continue voting for them. Thats evil!
Mwapya ba MMD. Tizamuonani mu 2011. Enjoy while you can.
Nyama soya will donate sugar and mealie meal, those ids thought the mealie meal nyama soya was donating would last forever, this is just the beginning of worst things to come.
The Bumper harvest has been eaten by LBG ( large grain borer)
This is the way it’s going to continue for the next 3 years so brace yourselves villagers. This is Toadface delivering the promise, and this is only the beginning. Don’t just wait for handouts. Make yourselves useful.
Movement for mass destruction mmd help your people who voted for you in eastern province kaili.
“Patnam” you’ve got the right name for these chaps. Look at how much they have destroyed in the 17 years they have been in power. If I may add, Chiluba was not a master dribbler but a master destroyer.
it buffles me how this govt doesent learn. So this season they will deliver inputs late again and then hunger again next year AGAIN and the circle continues…but pa zed! iam mau-less! whats difficulty to make the same trucks that go to buy maize after haversts to also deliver fertilisers so that they are loaded to and fro???? Can someone please tell these PF and UPND chaps to unite…we need some change. At this moment one would have hope in just any change mwe!
where is the bumper harvest ,
Stock more Cassava
This is a result of a gvt which forces itself into power either by cheating or by guns.MMD has no respect for the voters because thy know that they have VJ and RB to help them cheat.They don’t care who goes hungry.
If this is the outcome of a bumper harvest then I don’t want to see the outcome of a drought. It’s never a good thing to hear of looming starvation but these are the people who kept the current government in power (2006 and 2008). People vote based on issues that are most important to them so I assume food security was not a priority.
‘An opposition Patriotic Front official has taken a swipe at Kasama Central Member of Parliament, Savior Chishimba following remarks made in connection with the PF leadership and convention.Mr. Chishimba was yesterday said that PF leader Michael Sata will never be President of Zambia as time has run out.He also called for the party to hold a convention.In reaction, PF official, Mrs. Charity Banda says Chishimba is not a member of PF and should not involve himself in matters of the party.She disclosed that the party is discussing the issue of the convention and that everything is in line.’ Source:w w w . muvitv . c o m /news /Nov2008 /16thpnews6 . h t m l
Let them continue eating those wild fruits thats what they wanted, can RB now give them more sugar and mealie meal?
This morning a friend of mine told me that political situation on copperbelt is pathetic, RB has brought back vigilants like KK days.
#19, it is good that vigilants like KK days are back if that is true because these Kaponyas are putting the Nation at risk. I do not want the war in Congo to spill to Zambia especially that we as the first in copper production in Africa can suffer if things in the Copperbelt are left unchecked.
Viva President RB Banda on sorting out the Kaponyas and please GRZ make sure you bring sense and pump sense in CB Province people who misbehave and vote unsensibly.
Vote for president HH and The UPND in 2011 for a real ray of hope and change that all Zambians can believe in.
” Chadiza District experienced floods last seasopn, which destroyed crops and road infrastructure. ”
The government needs to use the national service and army, and start building small dams and ponds, so excess rainfall can be harvested and stored for used during the dry season.
This is not very hard to do, and wouldn’t cost much. It could be a works project that would put money in people’s pockets which would stimulate the economy.
” Meanwhile, government has sent 1,500 metric tonnes of fertilizer and 72 metric tonnes of feed maize to Chadiza district. ”
A very noble gesture, but what is needed is an end to the flooding.
Why do these people sell everything after harvesting?Government should look into this issue urgently.People must not always live on hand outs.
THESE HUNGRY PEOPLE THIS YEAR WILL HAVE A BUMPER HARVEST, UNFORTUNATELY THEY WILL SELL EVERYTHING (MAIZE)BY JUNE 2009. AND THE CYCLE OF CRYING FOR HELP WILL START IN JULY. SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN. POLITICALLY, ITS THE SAME
History is the best judge. Our brothers have been haunted with their short sightedness. Now they need Zambia and not RB to save them. Just weeks ago, they received sugar and exchanged their vote with it. Sad, the sugar is short lived. That sugar is now salt demanding more water to drink but alas they are in a wilderness. Zambians can learn from this. I hope our comrades will be vigillant in 2011 not to receive sugar from anyone who will not give them more sugar after the election. Let us us vote for someone who will make us buy sugar on owr own sugar. Now RB is as quite as if he has not head what is happening. We appeal to every Zambian not to give away their dignity to nothing.
Its good that the Hunger situation has affected where Nyama soya come from, it would have only been bad if it affected other provinces.
So let us wait and see what Toadface is gonna address this situation in his village.
Iwe ka #5 and all you mean people Have a heart it could be that one of you grand parents are actually the ones starving, just because unkala mu town, you become so insensitive!
#3 Nine Chale I also remember that article.moreover that’s Mr banda’s province.
Imwe ba kamushi, expect no sympathy from me, ask your sleepy character to provide you with sugar and mealie meal like he did before elections or go out and look for wild fruits otherwise mulefwa kunsala.ifwe na tukwikuta.
ifwe ni zeeeeee
some one has to explain to what happens when the rural chaps vote,is there any form of influnce or they vote out of thier own will and mind.coz mmd has done nothing for the rural pipo and yet they still come out and vote.hunger hits them very hard compared to most pipo in urban areas,or is it that the chiefs have a role or to play when it comes to voting.what about the much atticipted bumper harvest
Eastern had a good yield in 2007/08 season as far as maize is concerned but our govt, MMD govt, does not care.
Malawi had a poor yeild last season. So our poor farmers mostly on the border areas sold their maize at K75,000 to Malawians which looked vary attractive. Besides millers where allowed to buy maize from farmers, and they were paying cash on delivery as opposed to FRA who takes 6months to pay.
The hunger in Chadiza is not isolated but the begin of bad things to come which will affect the country.
It is very sad as I am worried about my family in Mulolo chiefdom. This should serve as an example that MMD is just good at talking and not ACTION!!!!We have not yet reached December and will only begin harvesting in March
#18 Mr Mungungulu H .Mwanga i catch you now, this is what i was talking about in the other aticle. you comment is very different from this article. We are discussing hunger in Chadiza you bring in sata, eyoo mwandi……
i agree with # 8 observer. MMD is happy with such a sad development, because they will simply dish out a few bags of maize and the poor villagers will praise them. This govt want our rural folk to believe that when they do a service to people it comes out like a favour. OH GOD come down your self and sort out this mess in zambia
Lets eat politics. Its very tasty
Villagers should not complain they voted wrongly hence the deserve such a miserable life, wait this will continue for the next 3 years Ingombe illede is busy beautifying himself and the kanono next mid year he will concentrate on his family especially the growns and the twins by securing them with millions of kwacha just like kafupi did then mid year towards the completion of 3 years that’s when he will started securing money for the extended family we have seen this even with Teta this tenure was to secure his family though he has a dirty house full of scrapped vehicles, and the yard is pathetic its only a two bedroom house. Teta’s mother lives in a grass thatched house and always beggin
shame on all the Mudya Mweka Daddy no change not even free fertilizer for the people
#32. Big Ben, that is a NEWS ITEM on MUVITV and some more people need to know it. So, whats your problem with it?
Its RB time
EVEN SATA CANT DO A THING . HE WAS ALSO GOING TO NEED VJ. JUST BE HAPPY. CHANGE WILL COME WHEN YOU ARE DEAD.
Easterners , Sorry there will be no sympathy for you, just continue cooking the mangos and hunting for mbebas or run to akulu mpuno, maybe he can throw some left over pap at you.
Hi maestro, man i think by next week i will no longer be Zambian cause i cant take this nonsense in Zed anymore. I have applied for Citizenship in Rwanda, i think its better than Zed. Greet Sarah and V concerpt.
The rural chaps were told that if they voted for Sata he was going to kill all old people, and this stuck hard into their mind. I Thought it was just a joke till i met my sister from the village just before the elections and she told me she would not vote for sata because he will kill all older ones in the village. So you see the brain wash which mmd employed……………….
Hold on your mangoes i hope they will last you will perish for yo decision you made.Who told u to choose wrongly?This time wen we make a decision follow suit.By the way wat is it that MMD has done in rural areas apart from giving you fitenges that makes you happy .Now eat mpunu ikulu!
I do not believe all these lies until I see a Chief die. There is no poverty in Zed because if there was, Nyama Soya would have done something about it than to give tu chifi tu motorbike!
This is not just about Eastern Province. Throughout the world, prices are going to rise, including food and fuel. This means that everyone is going to starve. The Zambian government through it’s adherence to the DUMB policies of the IMF and World Bank, did not build up their financial reserves by taxing the hell out of the mines. ‘Donor aid’ is going to dry up, as western governments are going to prioritize their spending during the coming recession.
The only way Zambia is going to prevent starvation is by increasing food production, because food is going to be more valuable than copper. And don’t wait for tourists to show up.
You’re on your own, so stop blaming and start working.
Zambia can not only produce all the food it needs, but it can produce far more food than it can ever consume. That means you can lower the cost of food by simply producing more.
All that is required is the politicians with the will to start prioritising agriculture and infrastructure. Maybe people actually starving will be the incentive to start doing so. Or maybe we have to wait until politicians see their own ‘lifestyles’ affected.
Or they can build higher walls around their mansions and beef up security.
That is what u get by giving pipo free food. They become complacent. Hippo face RB bribed pipo with free food and farming implements, now they dont want to work, GRZs hippoface, RB , has created beggers.
How can they be starrving when the rains were good.