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.”