ZAMBIA: WFP urges donors to provide funds as drought looms

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

JOHANNESBURG, 23 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Zambia could be facing a "drastic shortfall" in its maize output, and the World Food Programme (WFP) has called on donors to step forward with funding.

WFP spokeswoman Jo Woods told IRIN that the agency, which was part of a Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) that toured a drought-affected arc of five southwestern provinces last week, recorded crop failure of up to 90 percent in some areas.

The food agency said it feared the number of people dependent on its rations could rise, but donors have been slow to respond to an existing appeal to fund its programmes launched in January this year.

"We have received less than half of the US $44.7 million required for our full project for the year including the school feeding and work-for-food programmes," said Woods.

WFP is currently providing emergency food assistance to 900,000 vulnerable people in Zambia. "We are prepared for general food distribution, should the need arise," Woods added.

The VAC team found that household food stocks saved from last year have run out in most of the southern provinces. "Households have begun selling livestock, employing other coping mechanisms such as skipping meals and gathering wild fruits," said Woods.

Poor and erratic rainfall in five of the country's nine provinces prompted the Zambian government to issue a drought alert warning and announce the suspension of maize exports earlier this month.

Woods was unable to confirm that Zambia could be facing a shortfall of 300,000 mt of maize, a figure cited by Agriculture and Cooperative Minister Mundia Sikatana in parliament on Tuesday.

Sikatana was quoted in the government-owned Daily Mail on Wednesday as saying, "Preliminary reports show that rain has been insufficient in some parts of the country and food security threatens to reach worrying proportions."

Sikatana said the country currently had 111,000 mt of maize in stock. Earlier this year, the government's Food Reserve Agency announced that it was only holding stocks amounting to 120,000 mt of maize. In 2004, after meeting its domestic consumption requirements of 1.2 million mt, Zambia exported surplus maize to its neighbours.

Sikatana said the government, cooperating with partners such as WFP, would ensure that stocks of both commercial and relief maize would be available in all affected areas.

[ENDS]