Several provinces in Zambia, including Eastern, Southern, and Central, are grappling with an extended dry spell, leaving many districts parched and posing a significant threat to maize crops. The dry conditions, attributed to the El-Nino phenomenon, have persisted for the last 21 days, affecting not only agricultural productivity but also raising concerns about food security in the affected areas.
Government authorities have mobilized experts in agriculture, weather forecasting, and disaster management to assess the impact of the prolonged dry spell on maize crops across the affected provinces. Likezo Musobani, Assistant Director Prevention and Mitigation at the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), led a team to evaluate the situation in Eastern Province. They found that approximately seven out of every ten maize fields visited had experienced significant withering and stress.
In Lupenga Village, Rufunsa District, one farmer, Esau Nkhoma, lamented the devastating impact of the dry spell on his anticipated maize yield. He reported that his expected harvest of around 200 bags of maize has been drastically reduced to almost nothing due to the adverse weather conditions.
Peter Zulu, Acting Chief Agriculture Economist in the Ministry of Agriculture, who accompanied the assessment team in Eastern Province, expressed grim prospects for crop recovery. He noted that maize crops at the tussling stage, poised to begin pollination, have been severely affected by the dry spell, leaving little hope for meaningful yield.
Matakala Mushimbei, a Meteorological Assistant at the Zambia Meteorological Department, provided insight into the weather forecast, indicating that the dry spell situation is likely to persist in most parts of Eastern Province for the next seven days. This forecast underscores the urgency of the situation and the need for swift action to mitigate the impact on agricultural productivity and ensure food security for affected communities.
As the dry spell persists, government authorities and relevant stakeholders are urged to intensify efforts to support affected farmers, provide relief assistance where necessary, and implement strategies to enhance resilience to future climate-related challenges. Collaborative and proactive measures are essential to safeguarding livelihoods and sustaining agricultural productivity in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
God is punishing you for voting upnd
FUSEKE
Ulichipuba and including bonse supporting your nonsense.
The dry spell is affecting the whole of Southern Africa. How is that related to the 2021 elections? Accept your loss and move on.
@Kaizar Zulu
Its not God’s punishment……this is just to show that you cannot promise heaven to people when you’re just a human….HH promised heaven on earth to Zambians as if he jas some special powers….it turns out HH is just a useless pompwe
What the fack are you talking about, HH cannot promise or deliver rain. The 3 provinces that are experiencing the drought also happen to be the most agriculturally productive provinces in the country. This is not going to be good for Zambia. The reason why Zambia is in trouble is because the people from your villages, Michael Satan and Edna Lungu, borrowed and stole US $33 billion, which Zambia cannot pay. The lack of rain has nothing to do with the problems of Zambia. In fact the current lack of rain has not yet made itself felt. Do not try to change the facts. You people stole, and that is why Zambia is suffering.
HH intentions are good however those under him are lacking in many respects
the Proffessional pool to draw from is very limited and remember 85% of GRZ employees were inherited from the last regime like it or not corruption was rife then as is now
It is almost an impossible task to rid it in the short term
Corruption has destroyed SA and will do the same here, its up to us to report such instead of just whining on here
PF people are very happy with the dry spell so that mealie meal prices go up and pipo suffer. they are happy when pipo suffer under HH and they are not happy when pipo are okey under HH.
Common sense…. have PF supporters got their own source of maize. Come on man everyone is affected. I was told once how to know a person’s character….if he’s suspicious it means he’s full of secrets and if he suspects everyone of being a thief then he’s actually a thief…so if you think PF are celebrating it’s because you used to celebrate everytime things went bad during the PF government.
Mai babe ineee, kalanga!
Why can’t Mr Know it all the almighty Ayatollah Hakainde Hichilema the Supreme leader Manufacture rain…..I thought he had solutions for everything…..I think he had connections in heaven….it turns he only has connections in hell
That’s uncalled for .Retract your words and ask for forgivenessasap.
If your spook floating around the sky somewhere cant do it
how do expect him to ??
Sorry, the UPND manifesto does not have a chapter on rain or climate. We forgot that Zambia is prone to drought
Only stupid bigots think a dry spell is due to HH and UPND. Is this the first time some parts of Zambia have experienced dry spells??. What kind of solutions can we expect from people who think this dry spell is punishment from God for voting UPND?? Only gullible voters can be cheated by promises of voting for a president who is a rain-maker. Stupid imbeciles!!!
What are you re-mourners on about?. Zambia is not 3 provinces. 7 provinces have had good rains plus irrigation of winter maize… shshshsh come down. Zambia as a unitary state, One Zambia One Nation suffices. Those not interested can leave Zambia and go into exile in neighbouring states.
It’s surprising that a few years ago prior to the 2021 general elections most UPND w@nkers (including their little god) did not believe in climate change and it was all PF’s incompetence. So what has changed now?
Recently international media and NGOs have been warning about the close to 2 million Zambians that are at the brink of starvation, but have you heard anything from DMMU or that group of w@nkers at State House or CH? Nothing!!! All you get a lies, excuses and blaming ECL/PF.
Pardon my French…but this level of uselessness and incompetence makes my blood boil.
Especially egg shaped head Mweetwa who thinks he knows everything. These chaps have made everything worse from PF bad.
A normal person cannot blame lack of solution to climate induced droughts to a government which has not even clocked 4 years in authority. Why didnt previous government invest in appropriate irrigation schemes?? Those who think they will vote for a rain-maker president will continue dreaming until their end!! What is needed are programmes which will reduce near total dependence on rain-fed agriculture while at the same time planting trees to restore environment which may increase rainfall. Politicising a dry spell just shows how politically dry and immature some people are!!
………
Even if those provinces get no rain at all………….
GRZ has built in resilience from prudent management of resources………
There is enough room for such inevitable shocks……..
That is the difference with running economics of a country the right way , and tarven economics where borrowing is the game……..
Please stop this mining business and invest in ecosystem before it’s too late.
Go and invest in ecosystem yourself. Practice what you preach. Don’t stop others from doing what they know best. Let each sector progress mining, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture etc. Where did you think your forex comes from? KK was misled by people like you and he ran the economy to the ground after fruitless economic diversification emanating from the 1969 matero or was it the mulungushi watershed reforms.
Where are the posts Iam trying to respond to? About Zambia’s lack of water retention strategy?
@Wake Up and @ Stability… governments have been encouraging us to go farming but they have not given tangible solutions on how we can make agriculture not only profitable but also sustainable. Dishing out FISP is like giving a juvenile money and hoping they do something sensible.There’s nothing wrong with mining; what is wrong is how we have been going about it.
As for KK you a need a whole book to understand the man… KK was betrayed by himself and the Zambians …his involvement in liberating the southern part of Africa brought silent sanctions against Zambia which led to the decline of the once vibrant economy. He had a good and practical map for the country but because of the prevailing situation at the time we rose against him just as the West wanted.
I support ecosystem all the way, not mining that involves digging of minerals and leaving behind big holes, which are harmful to the environment and it’s inhabitants. WakeUp you are on spot.
Climate change has been going on for many millions of years
do you really think we humans are going to change nature ?? preparations for such events should be put in place
Our experts should have warned us appropriately about the dry spell. Technology to achieve this is available. The problem I see is the ability of technocrats to deliver appropriately.
Arguing ain’t changing nothing at all , ain’t you aware that we gotta just cop with the way things are. PF and UPND, I ain’t even pretty sure if non of you think they can make rain pour , ain’t you trying being dumb-asses by saying so? ain’t you aware that this was all predicted in the bible, so I bet if you tryna blame someone, blame the big guy in the sky, God, that if you a dummy you gonna do so and he’ll surely punish you for questioning him.