Drought hits Zambia as food prices are on the rise

Severe weather conditions in Zambia and consequent lower harvests of maize, wheat and sugar cane is currently pushing prices of Zambia’s staple foods up, the country’s Ministry of Agriculture has said.

Late rains, drought and heavy flooding in some parts of the country have grossly affected food production in the current harvest season.

Like most African countries, most of the farm inputs such as seeds and chemicals are imported and combined with the weather conditions; the resulting effect is the current increase in the nation’s staple foods.

Maize production has fallen from 3.3 million tonnes in the previous harvest to 2.6 million tonnes this year according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Sugar production has declined from 424,000 tonnes last year to 380,000 tonnes this year just as the country’s stores of wheat are likely to be 59,000 metric tonnes short of demand before the next harvest.

Zambia’s Central Statistical Office said inflation in August was running at nearly 20 percent, in part as a result of higher food prices.

A 25-kilo (55-pound) bag of mealie-meal, the country’s ground maize staple, which cost about $5 in February now is selling for as much as $12 in some parts of the country.

Possible solutions may include a shift in the types of crops cultivated in the country to more weather resistant and healthy alternatives such as millet and cassava, insists William Chilufya of Hivos International, an NGO working on issues which include climate change and sustainable diet.

He further said that the government needed to start promoting this category of crops and pursue more sustainable options in agriculture as the lives of the citizens were clearly at stake.