ZAMBIA is this year projected to record a lower-than-expected maize harvest due to poor rainfall.
This is real and not good news as a recent trip I undertook to the Southern Province revealed.
The entire southern part of Zambia, I mean from Lusaka, is dry and farmers have been left to ponder on what could have been a better crop output.
The expected output is not the work of man but all will agree that the weather pattern has been quite adverse and the repercussions are devastating.
Maize in many parts of the south has been stunted due to inadequate water and if the rain were to come for the remaining period until April, the outcome would still not be much to avert the food shortages.
President Edgar Lungu was recently in the south to ascertain the impact of the drought and was on point to state that the feasible solution was to import maize from South America.
The President says the country should move quickly to import the grain as the entire Southern Africa has been hit by drought, leaving a possible 18 million people at the risk of hunger this year.
The maize currently available in the national strategic grain reserves will only last the country up to August, hence the move by Government to import additional stock is welcome.
This is because the importation of the maize will ensure that there is no interruption in the supply of the staple food ultimately stabilising mealie-meal prices.
Government’s management of the grain reserves should also be commended because the halting of exports was done at an opportune time when the indications of rainfall were beginning to look gloomy.
This rainfall inadequacy should now provide the country a lesson on the need to invest in irrigation agriculture so as to enhance productivity.
Now might not be the only time when the country experiences poor rainfall, hence the need for sustainable measures to ensure that agricultural production continues over time.
The Government has a concise policy on developing the agricultural sector but this needs to be matched with participation from the private sector.
As our economy is liberalised, the private sector should take keen interest in partnering with the Government so that the implementation of irrigation-fed agriculture is expedited.
The Government alone has competing matters to address on a tight budget, hence when private sector players come on board, it will be easier to implement irrigation agriculture.
This will also help sustain the Government’s agenda to resort to agriculture as the mainstay economic activity away from mining.
However, the northern part of the country is doing well in as far as the rainfall pattern is concerned and the Government must ensure that productivity in the area is maximised.
It would be good if the maize which will be imported ultimately acts as a supplement after what will be produced from the northern parts carters for whatever much of the population it can service.
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