President Hakainde Hichilema hosted a pivotal meeting at State House, bringing together the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and key representatives from Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies involved in agriculture. The discussions focused on developing collaborative strategies to mitigate the devastating impact of what has been described as the worst drought in a century.
The severe drought has significantly disrupted Zambia’s food and energy security, putting immense pressure on the nation’s agricultural sector. Acknowledging the indispensable role of farmers in combatting hunger and drought, President Hichilema reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to open dialogue and cooperation with stakeholders as the country looks ahead to a potentially favorable rainy season.
“Our farmers, in partnership with the government, are indispensable in combating the effects of drought and hunger. As the adage goes: no farmer, no food, no future,” President Hichilema emphasized.
Key outcomes from the meeting included a pledge to tackle critical issues faced by farmers, such as ensuring the timely payment for their produce, accelerating the delivery of farming inputs, and eliminating systemic bottlenecks hindering progress. These measures aim to bolster agricultural productivity and strengthen the resilience of the sector.
The President also called on all Zambians to contribute to national food security by cultivating wherever possible to bolster the country’s food basket. “We urge every citizen to contribute by cultivating wherever possible, strengthening the nation’s food basket and reinforcing our collective food security,” he said.
With the nation united in addressing these challenges, the government expressed hope that proactive measures and collaboration with farmers would pave the way for a more secure and prosperous future.
Some parts of PHI, we don’t have ZESCO power for 2 days now, this drought is too much
Ba LT How come the soccer stories you were leading with just 10 hours ago have disappeared? They have been replaced with Tasila????
Why?
Here is the solution, put forward by me in 2016. But it seem no-one was listening.
https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/02/24/load-shedding-look-facts/
https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/03/01/zambia-short-water-power-generation-can-done/
@Kabelenga
Because soccer doesnt really have much meaning when it comes to our challenges
If HH had of stepped into this zesco issue from day one maybe we would be in a better postion,
drought conditions can be lessened as most crops have an early maruring viarity
How is agriculture going to meaningfully take off amidst crippling power shortages? The fierce urgency of now is power, and this should be the priority. Tafyakaisove…
It appears only 2 of us are concerned about thhhis issue
Is it because 70% of the population reside in out lying areas and dont give a damn
I have said many times this will be his Nemesis
This drought started a long time ago with its severity increasing with each. I never heard this gentleman call for unity especially where power shortages were concerned. Instead he took it as an opportunity to convince people that this was due to incompetence
Drought effects will minimised if we concentrate on tackling energy
Crises first.stop focussing on CDF
And bring that money into energy
Sector.
HUH ??
HUH Who ??
Coming from a person who sold the country’s strategic food reserves and said Dubai does not have rains but they have electricity all year. This is not the first drought this country has had. His tribal brother Nkombo has still not explained his Chembe river strategy upto now. The best Nkombo has done is force a minor to drink Kachansu. Zambians wake up! these people are failure. The earlier we get rid of them, the better.
Today he is talking unity when he is on record saying it is lack of leadership. Your are a leader now so where is the leadership you were talking about. Face your lies and come back to earth to sort out the Heaven you promised other than the hell you are delivering.
Its always been failure to listen from other people including his own advisors that will keep putting HH in embarrassing situations. These very people he is now inviting to State House are the people that he sidelined from the minute he became president. He never wanted to listen to their proposals – because he was behaving like ” Mr Know It All ”
Please understand Mr. President has always even in business has had the atittude of “my way or no way” its not something new to his character
The 1978 drought was widespread as it was experienced in all the then 9 provinces. That was the first time we had yellow maize which was a donation from the Canadian government. This year Luapula, Northern, Muchinga, North Western, Eastern, Copperbelt and then eastern part of Central province received average and above average rainfall. So it’s wrong to say this was the worst drought in a century. Poor distribution of FISP in non UPND strongholds have worsened the situation. Which country is Chunsu trying to unite? His actions and words don’t tally
Oh, so if it was not the worst drought, so why has the water levels dropped in the Kariba dam? If Luapula, Northern, Muchinga, North Western, Eastern, Copperbelt and the eastern part of Central province received average and above average rainfall, where is the Maize that was harvested because as far as the statistics show, the Maize production in these areas was below average. What are you insinuating?
If the President had an attitude of my way or no way, Was he going to invite the ZNFU?
This nation should build more dams and power stations.
@Katana, that’s how idyots mislead others. Get to Northern province and some parts of Copperbelt like Lufwanyama and Masaiti people are still buying and selling maize despite having shared inputs in medas. Even threats from Mtolo Phiri haven’t deterred them. They just don’t want to deliver to FRA
This is not the first drought Zambia is experiencing nor the last one .Those who wrongly see this calamity in the lense of “HH’s drought” have the worst drought of all a.k.a drought of the mind.