Zambia food crisis [The Morning Call]

Zambia is experiencing a severe food crisis.

The government says 1.7 million people are already food insecure and the United Nations estimates that 2.3 million people will need emergency food aid by March in 2020.

A longer dry spell and flooding in the country’s northern and eastern provinces have been blamed for crop failure. Corruption in the government scheme meant to distribute inputs to farmers also made many to miss the first rains.

Climate change has also been attributed to this serious drought affecting the country as President Edgar Lungu said in New York at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The food crisis is just the latest issue to cause discomfort for President Edgar Lungu, already under criticism for Zambia’s huge debt, corruption and accusations of a shift to autocratic rule.