Zambia Declares National Emergency Due to Drought

Facts

• On Thursday, the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema declared a national emergency as a devastating drought has overtaken the country. The announcement comes as the country continues to recover from a recent cholera outbreak.¹
• Hichilema said that the drought has stemmed from five weeks with no rain at a critical time for farmers. The lack of rainfall, exasperated by El Niño and climate change has compounded the challenges from last year's pattern of dry weather followed by flooding.²
• An assessment conducted by the Zambian government determined that 84 of 116 districts have been impacted, resulting in debilitating losses across 1M of 2.2M hectares of farmland that are farmed by 1M households.³
• The drought has also had a significant impact on Zambia’s ability to produce hydroelectric power. The national emergency will clear the way for Zambia to provide humanitarian aid to combat food scarcity.⁴
• Zambia has committed to a long-term solution to increase its resilience to drought. The Defense forces are being deployed to assist farmers with planting more crops and additional programs will assist the impacted farmers and international assistance is being sought.⁵
• The food, water, and electricity scarcity comes on the heels of a cholera outbreak that infected at least 1K people and killed 400. The COVID pandemic, cholera outbreak, and now severe drought are being dubbed the 'triple tragedy.'¹

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²Al Jazeera, ³The New Times, ⁴The Frontierpost and ⁵The Herald.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Nature. Rising global temperatures at the hands of human-caused climate change have forever changed the environmental landscape of Africa. As these impacts intensify, particularly in areas of the global south, southern Africa faces a future of increased suffering exacerbated by longstanding inequalities. These systemic injustices will likely only worsen, leaving the impoverished with few resources to cope or become resilient to the grim realities of climate change.
• Narrative B, as provided by UNDP Climate Promise. While the African continent has contributed very little to the climate crisis they have stepped up to once again to lead innovation for humanity. African nations are working together to build transparency and partnerships that will drive climate-friendly projects aimed at both developing the nations economically and also by doing it sustainably. The future looks bright — and green — for the continent even in the face of climate threats.