LUSAKA, Zambia
The Zambian government on Thursday declared a national state of disaster and emergency to enable a rapid response to the prolonged drought, which threatens national food security and electricity shortages.
President Hakainde Hichilema
said the decision was made following an assessment of the prolonged drought,
which has affected 84 of the country's 116 districts. "The disaster and
emergency are severe, and the government is responding with urgency," he
said during a national address on the drought situation.
He said that an assessment
conducted revealed that about 1 million hectares out of the planted 2.2 million
hectares of farmland have been impacted by the dry spell, affecting over 1
million farming households.
He noted that the situation
entails a shift of resources toward humanitarian assistance and called for
prudent resource utilization.
The government, he said, will
implement measures to import electricity and rationing as the country faces an
electricity deficit of 430 megawatts, which may reach 520 megawatts by December
2024. He also requested assistance from cooperating partners to moderate the
negative effects of the drought caused by climate change.
The Zambian president said
that the government, as a long-term measure, will enhance water harvesting
mechanisms to enable precision and other irrigation development to stimulate
agricultural production.
No comments:
Post a Comment