Informal sector alliance calls for winter cropping, as dry spells intensify, food shortages imminent

Alliance for Zambia Informal Economy Association (AZIEA) president, Poster Jumbe, says food shortage is imminent following the long dry spell characterizing the 2023/2024 farming season.

Jumbe said in an interview on Monday that the answer could be found in winter cropping to avert the looming food shortages.

“The government should come up with immediate measures to invest in winter maize growing right away, we are in the middle of a crisis, we need to act now,” he said.

Jumbe stated that the government should consider convening a stakeholder meeting where issues to do with measures to mitigate the imminent food shortage would be discussed.

He said the country had been neglecting the issues of water harvesting making the country vulnerable to climatic change harsh conditions.

Jumbe said the country still had water reservoirs only what was needed was some investments to expand them.

The country is currently undergoing one of the historical droughts coupled with heat waves that had threatened the health of crops and that of human beings.

Crops especially in the southern half of the country are wilting, and there is no assurance of proper harvest.

Stakeholders fear that mealie meal price would even rise more beyond the average K300 for a 25 kilogramme.

It is also expected that there would be serious power shortage given that the country generates around 80 percent of its national electricity output.

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