REBECCA MUSHOTA –
THE Zambia Meteorological Department has said that the lack of rain cannot be referred to as a drought yet but merely a dry spell which is likely to improve next week.
And Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya has said Zambians will not go hungry despite a disappointing rainy season the country has experienced so far.
Zambia Meteorological Department senior meteorological officer -in -charge of climate services Lyson Phiri said he was confident that starting from January 29 this year going forward, the three provinces experiencing a dry spell would record normal rainfall.
The provinces affected by the dry spell are Lusaka, Southern and Western.
He said this when he featured on Radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk programme.
Mr Phiri said the dry spell that some provinces were facing was a result of the suppressing of the Congo air mast due to the high pressure in the atmosphere as well the cyclones in Madagascar and the Indian High Commission.
He said the human activities such as charcoal production were also contributing to the dry spell.
And the department’s officer in charge of forecasting and research Loveness Nikisi said that the rainfall would soon pick up but farmers should consult the Ministry of Agriculture over their crop which was under stress because it was too late to replant at this stage.
Ms Nikisi said it was too early to call the situation a drought but it was just a dry spell.
Meanwhile, Ms Siliya said the Ministry of Agriculture was monitoring the situation to ensure food security, food that was accessible and food that was affordable for Zambians in the face of the forecast low yields due to poor rainfall.
The minister was speaking in an interview on Monday in Berlin, Germany, on the sidelines of the German-Africa Business Association meeting called for African countries to share their investment prospects in the agriculture sector with the German business community.
This is according to a statement issued by First Secretary for Press at the Zambian Embassy in Germany Kellys Kaunda.
Ms Siliya said going forward, the Government was expected to increase its investment in harvesting rain-water and the construction of dams, thereby reducing dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
Ms Siliya said she was praying that the fall army worm attack would not be as devastating as last year.
She said an elected Government as that of President Edgar Lungu would not hesitate to make tough decisions if need be to make sure Zambians were food secure.