Drought in Zambia has left millions of people from farming families without enough food or water. In a country already facing multiple challenges associated with the adverse impacts of climate change, this latest ordeal is acutely worrying, particularly as it comes in the wake of a cholera outbreak which killed nearly 700 people earlier this year.
“With this crop failure, I am really in trouble,”
— Mainza Muchindu, a farmer from Lusaka, Zambia
Farmers’ crops have been destroyed and the next growing season is a year away, leading the Zambian government to declare national disaster and emergency in February.
The destruction is devastating.
The 2024 lean season (when food is scarce) began in July. It normally starts in November to March, and it’s likely to last longer.
February was the driest and hottest month since 1981.
9.9 million people face severe food insecurity.
Malnutrition rates in Zambia remain among the highest in the world, with 48% of the population unable to meet their minimum calorie requirements.
More than one-third of children under five years old are stunted.
Urgent support in the form of food and clean water is what people need the
most now,
— said Ezra Banda, Director at Keepers Zambia Foundation, a partner organisation working with Oxfam, who noted that water shortages from low rainfall this year could cause another cholera outbreak.
Mainza Muchindu doesn’t know how he will feed his family:
"I have a family of 10 people and I depend on farming to support them. I
support my children’s education through agriculture and my little children
need food the most, for their nutrition,”
“I don’t know what else to do because I invested all my money into this two-
hectare maize crop and there is nothing that will come from here. I don’t
know where else I will get food from. I can only hope that there will be food
relief from the government, otherwise we are facing a big problem."
Oxfam in Southern Africa Programme Director, Machinda Marongwe, says money is needed to address the worsening impacts of climate change:
“As long as rich countries don’t lower their carbon emissions, we know that
climate shocks will be frequent and more severe. Smallholder farmers need
to be insulated from this and must be adequately supported to transform
their agriculture, so that they can still grow food for their families amidst this
climate change reality."
“Sadly, those farmers are not getting support to solve problems they didn’t
cause. Nothing is coming their way because rich nations are offering just lip
service. Countries like Zambia and many others in Southern Africa need
climate financing to help them build up the resilience of their smallholder
farmers.”
Urgent support in the form of food and clean water is what people need the
“As long as rich countries don’t lower their carbon emissions, we know that
