The
food situation in drought-struck Zambia has deteriorated to
the point where families are trying to survive on poisonous
plants, says a Zambia Red Cross volunteer, who is asking for
more international help.
Imwaka Barry Sikufele, a volunteer in Maamba district, in the
Southern Province of Zambia, which has been hard-hit by the
Southern Africa food crisis, says people in his community know
the danger of eating certain wild roots, but have no choice.
“People here are resorting to wild fruits and roots that
they do not usually eat, and these roots need to be cooked for
at least 48 hours because they are poisonous.
“Last week two people are reported to have died after
eating roots that were not cooked enough. The family was too
hungry to wait,” says Imwaka.
“People are resorting to these poisonous roots, despite
knowing that others have died. They desperately need something
to fill their stomachs,” adds Imwaka.
Zambia Red Cross volunteers and staff are calling for more international
assistance in protecting people from immediate hunger, and in
meeting longer term food security needs.
In October the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies launched an appeal to combat food insecurity
in seven countries in Southern Africa. From the appeal, Swiss
francs (Sfr) 5.5 million (US $ 4 million) should go to 189,000
Zambians in the south and west for food, seeds and fertilizer,
and water and sanitation projects.
Depending on funding, the Red Cross plans to distribute 4472
metric tonnes of maize, 746 metric tonnes of pulses, 372,600
litres of cooking oil and 1242 metric tonnes of a supplement
made from corn and soya beans. In addition, it will run a trial
giving food vouchers or cash to 8,000 people.
Even before the drought, Zambia, a country of 11 million people,
was badly off, with 64 per cent of people living on less than
US $ 1 a day. Life expectancy is just 33 years, the shortest
in the world.
Maize prices have risen by up to 60 per cent from a year ago,
pushing this basic cereal beyond the reach of many people. The
drought has destroyed pastures, leaving livestock emaciated,
and therefore eroding family assets.
Food insecurity in Zambia is rapidly deteriorating with reports
that eight people have died of starvation-related causes in
the Northern Province.
The World Food Programme estimates that the number of hungry
people in Zambia has risen from 1.2 million in June to 1.7 million
in October.
In October the government of Zambia launched an appeal to international
donors to scale up relief programmes with emergency food aid.
So far funds have been slow in coming in, says Terry Carney,
acting head of the Africa department for the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
“We are appealing for urgent help from the international
community to address this terrible situation. We need to immediately
give food aid to desperate people in Zambia and other countries
in Southern Africa before the situation worsens drastically,”
she says.
Funds are needed now to tide people over until the harvest in
March 2006.
A Livingstone volunteer, who looks after people living with
HIV and AIDS at their homes as part of a Zambia Red Cross home-based
care programme, says some groups of people are particularly
at risk of hunger.
“The situation here is not good at all. People are really
in need of food, especially vulnerable groups such as the elderly,
orphans, the terminally ill and the disabled who unable to work
and earn a living in these difficult times,” she says.
The volunteer has noticed that people she visits suffer because
of the water shortage too.
“People are forced to walk long distances, perhaps six
kilometres, to fetch for water for household use,” she
adds.
Urgent help is needed now to feed people, make sure they have
a access to safe water and prevent a crisis similar to the hunger
emergency of 2002 and 2003, says Robert Kwesiga, programme coordinator
for the Southern Africa delegation of the International Federation.
“The Red Cross needs to work fast and effectively to restore
the basics of life. This is essential so people can face the
future with dignity.”
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“We
are waiting for our husbands who have gone to collect
some wild fruits ‘masuku’ and ‘manengu’
so that we can have something
to eat” says Rose Makuni of Makalanguzu village
in Kalomo District, Southern Province of Zambia. (p13487)
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44
year-old Cutherbet Mubita says “My wife has run
away from me because of lack of food at home as I depend
on selling baskets which I make to earn my living, and
since there was a drought the last rain season, all the
crops dried and we have nothing to eat”. (p13486)
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"We
sleep on an empty stomach if the Red Cross doesn’t
give us food as I am the only one who is working since
my parents are old", says 27 year-old Sewe Wakumelo.
(13488)
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