(LUSAKATIMES) Hunger looms in three Chadiza chiefdoms
Hunger looms in three Chadiza chiefdomsNovember 16, 2008
Hunger is looming in three chiefdoms in Chadiza district in the Eastern province. Chadiza Member of Parliament (MP), Allan Mbewe, confirmed the development to ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today.
Mr Mbewe named the affected chiefdoms as Chief Mulolo, Mwangala and Zingalume, where villagers are surviving on green mangoes, wild fruits and roots.
He attributed to the hunger situation in his area to some late delivery of farming inputs, which negatively affects production in district.
Mr Mbewe said the threat of hunger has worsened after relief food distributed by the Office of the Vice President to the area run out.
He said the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, DMMU, under the Office of the Vice President only distributed 100 metric tonnes of relief maize for household food requirements, which was inadequate.
“There is serious hunger in my area because the relief food has run out in people’s homes. I’m appealing to government to send more food relief before people starve to death. Villagers are now going in the forests picking wild fruits and other local wild roots to eat because they don’t have food to eat,” Mr Mbewe lamented.
The MP accused the DMMU officials in Chadiza district of politicizing the relief food at the expense of development.
Mr Mbewe advised that the relief food distribution programme is a government programme for vulnerable people, which should not be used for gaining political mileage.
He appealed to the Office of the DMMU headquarters in Lusaka to intervene and arrest the hunger situation before it gets out of hand.
Chadiza District experienced floods last seasopn, which destroyed crops and road infrastructure.
Meanwhile, government has sent 1,500 metric tonnes of fertilizer and 72 metric tonnes of feed maize to Chadiza district.
Mr Mbewe has confirmed and commended government for the gesture saying the inputs were received on Friday last week.
And Mr. Mbewe has projected a bumper harvest for the 2007/2008 farming season following the dispatching of the fertilizer in good time.
“I expect to yield a bumper harvest next year because government has given us fertilizer in good time and so every farmer should go back to the land as opposed to engaging in illicit activities like beer drinking and laziness,” declared Mr. Mbewe.
ZANIS/KC/ENDS/SJK
Labels: ALLAN MBEWE, CHADIZA, CHIEF MULOLO, CHIEF MWANGALA, CHIEF ZINGALUME, DMMU, HUNGER
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posted by MrK @ 9:42 PM
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