By MUNAMBEZA MUWANEI –

ZAMBIA’s food security is at risk because of lack of funding to the International Red Locusts Organisation for Central and Southern Africa, organisation chief executive Officer Moses Okhaba has said.
The organisation which is responsible for the prevention of pests that attack the crops has not been funded by the respective governments for the last four months and has also resulted in workers going without pay.
Mr Okhaba who confirmed the development to the Sunday Times said his institution was still waiting for funding from the respective member countries in the region.
The member countries for the organisation are Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Mr Okhaba said the main role of   his organisation was to prevent pests like army worms and many others and not to control the pests.
“We are financed by governments’ contributions and they have promised to pay us but we are still waiting,” he said.
He said lack of funding to the organisation could threaten the country’s food security because they fail to perform their usual works of prevention of pests.
“The fact that we have not received the money this could be a danger to the country’s food security. As a result of lack of funding to the organisation the workers had gone for four months without salaries,” he said.
Some of the workers told the Sunday Times that it was becoming difficult for them to survive and that they had also received eviction notices from their landlords.
The workers who preferred  to remain anonymous said water and electricity had been disconnected from their homes.
“We have accrued so much debt, we have no food but we report for work every day,” said one of the workers.