The International Monetary Fund announced on Thursday its plans to visit Zambia around mid-April to evaluate the negative effects of the ongoing drought on the country’s economic growth and budget.
Zambia is currently facing drought conditions in 84 out of its 116 districts, with the rainy season ending earlier than usual in late January instead of its typical duration from October to March.
In a media briefing, IMF director of Communications, Julie Kozak, stated, ”The preliminary assessment is that crop losses do appear to be significant, and it also appears that there will be a need to increase imports of energy.”
Last week, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema declared the drought a national disaster and emergency, emphasizing its devastating impact on food production and electricity supply.
The country heavily depends on hydropower, which constitutes at least 80 percent of its electricity generation.
The failure of this year’s maize crop, a staple food requiring consistent rainfall, has left many small-scale farmers with no harvestable produce.
“I have eight hectares of maize and two, three hectares for groundnuts. But because we don’t have rain, so both have died,” stated Edner Soko, a subsistence farmer.
Farmer Jacob Soko remarked that the president’s declaration of a national disaster was appropriate, as the situation truly warranted it.
“We don’t have food, especially in the southern, eastern, and western parts; we have totally nothing. We hear from the news that the northern part of Zambia at least has some rain,” he stated.
At the forefront of farmers’ minds is the worry that they may not generate enough income to cover their basic needs, particularly given that nearly 70 percent of Zambians rely on food grown by small-scale farmers.
Despite these concerns, Yotam Mkandawire, the executive secretary for the Grain Traders Association of Zambia, maintains that the country is currently food secure.
“Where we may have a challenge, is going forward after the next harvest. This is where probably we should be able to expect maybe the country really responding to the situation that we are in now,” he stated.
Despite President Hichilema’s reassurances, aid organization Oxfam has issued a warning that six million people in Zambia are confronting acute food shortages until the next growing season.
He has pledged to redistribute food from surplus areas to districts facing shortages and has appealed for assistance from the international community.
ALSO READ: 20-year-old man stabs two women to death at a university in Mexico