Security wings scale up farming to help deal with drought

JUSTINAH MUKUKA,
CLAVER MUTINTA
Lusaka
IN RESPONSE to President Hakainde Hichilema’s directive, defence forces have formed a disaster and emergency response team to the drought which has already laid an ambitious programme to ensure there is national food security.
Zambia Army, Zambia Air Force (ZAF) and Zambia National Service (ZNS) are all part of the team chaired by Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary Norman Chipakupaku.
An estimated six million agricultural households have been affected by the drought and are in need of food supplies for the rest of this year.
“The drought has affected 84 districts in the southern half of
the country, adversely affecting 982,765 hectares of planted maize, out of 2,272,931 hectares planted, which represents 43.2 percent of the entire planted hectarage,” Vice-President Mutale Nalumango said in Parliament yesterday…https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home