Drought Destroys Half of Zambia’s Crops

While the International Energy Agency (IEA) says climate change and drought in particular is the main cause of the 1.1% increase in CO₂ emissions last year, Zambia is sounding the alarm and declaring a state of “national disaster.” The drought affecting Zambia has devastated almost half of the country’s crop area. More than a million families suffer from hunger and are at risk of dying. As the southern African country President Hakainde Hichilema said in an emergency address to the nation and the world, declaring a “state of national disaster” in the country will allow the government to access more financial resources to deal with the crisis.

“The southern African country has had almost two months without rain when its fields needed it most,” President Hichilema said. “50% of the fields have been destroyed, the land is dry, the damage to agriculture and the entire Zambian economy caused by the prolonged period of drought is enormous,” the president said, adding that “the drought has already affected 84 out of 116 districts and territories in the country.”

Hichilema said the crisis was exacerbated by the passage of the El Niño tropical climate phenomenon. The UN estimates that Zambia lost one million hectares out of the approximately 2.2 million with crops planted immediately after the El Niño onset. The African country’s food security is at risk. In addition to agriculture, severe and prolonged drought has severely damaged Zambia’s water and energy supplies. “In light of these challenges, the government has decided to declare a state of ‘national disaster,’” the president said.