Concerns over Africa’s ability to feed its people in the wake of droughts and climate change have caused farmers, experts and leaders in the agricultural sector to call for innovative ideas to combat the diverse weather patterns on the continent.
Following the Zambian government declaring a state of disaster because of the drought, food security in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has become a concern.
Learning curve for other countries
Hamond Motsi, a preparatory PhD scholar at the faculty of agrisciences at Stellenbosch University, said while Zambia is the second-largest maize producer in the SADC region, other countries are not immune to the challenges Zambia is facing and proactive plans are needed.
“For me, I think it is a sad development but a positive initiative for the people and the country to be aware; that in the next couple of months, there will be a food security crisis.
“This will initiate certain adaptation and mitigation measures to reduce the severity of the food insecurity as a result of the timely announcement,” he said.
Motsi explained that other countries in the region, specifically Zimbabwe, should not hide under the bus and act as if everything is normal while they are experiencing a similar concern. They should follow the same pathway to reduce the severity of the crisis.
Meanwhile, Oxfam, a global organisation that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, said over six million people from farming families in Zambia are facing acute food shortages and malnutrition until the next growing season.
Countries need climate financing
Machinda Marongwe, the programme director of Oxfam in Southern Africa, said it is in times like this when climate financing is most needed. According to Oxfam, one million hectares of 2.2 million planted crops have been destroyed.
“Countries like Zambia and many others in Southern Africa need this climate financing to help them build up the resilience of their smallholder farmers, because that is wearing out,” he said.
Free State maize farmer Reggie Nkambule said South Africa could not afford to increase exports to other countries as the country itself is battling to sustain itself.
“Most local maize crops are struggling too because of the drought and most of the Western parts of the country already [face] a disaster.
“The Eastern part of the country is not struggling but most of their crops could not produce great products. This is the indication that even those who harvest the yield will be very low. What remains to be seen is that will we have enough maize to even sustain ourselves as a country.
‘We are in the same boat’
Nkambule said although South Africa is not as severely impacted as Zambia, the reality could not be pushed aside because of the current situation with drought in most parts of Mzansi.
Phaladi Matsole, another maize farmer in Free State, reckons the country is in a worse state of drought than Zambia. He believes farmers in South Africa have little to no hope of good yields in the coming season.
“If it was the opposite, we would be standing in a very good opportunity to export, however, options are too limited to mitigate food security under these high temperatures for two months now in the
“I am calling on the national government to declare a state of disaster because what we are currently faced with is a very tough situation. For us as food producers there is little we could do to add to the already strained operational environment that farmers find themselves into,” he said.
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