Gwembe lawmaker seeks urgent relief food for district, laments absence of irrigation farming

Gwembe Member of Parliament, Tyson Simuzingili, has written to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) requesting for relief food.

The lawmaker’s decision to write to ADRA is reportedly due to the hunger situation ravaging the constituency.

Simuzingili said the District had been severely affected by drought for two consecutive years, and that this year’s situation was even worse as farmers had little or nothing to harvest.

He said this when he inspected Chipepo Food Reserve Agency (FRA) Satelite Depot to assess the availability of maize meant for community sales on Saturday.

“Although the selling of maize by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to communities is commendable, the move is not sustainable as the majority of people do not have resources to buy maize,” Simuzingili stated in a statement issued in Lusaka on Sunday.

He appealed to partners and government to consider irrigation as a sustainable way to alleviate the hunger situation.

Simuzingili reiterated that the geographical location of the District, which is in the Valley, with rocky terrains and erratic rains, was disadvantageous to the people.

He noted that people in the area could meaningfully practice sustainable farming methods on a large scale.

“I also want to appeal to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit to consider giving out relief food to the communities,” Simuzingili said.

Meanwhile, some residents who were found buying maize urged the government to continue with the initiative of community sale of maize.

They said that this would help to mitigate against the hunger situation that had affected the District.

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