RECENT DROUGHT TO TRIGGER SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN MALNUTRITION RATES IN ZAMBIA

RECENT DROUGHT TO TRIGGER SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN MALNUTRITION RATES IN ZAMBIA 

...as nearly 52,000 children,estimated 112,000 women to be affected next year.  

Rice fields in the Zambezi  flood plains of Western province showing dryness due drought  drought (pic courtesy of Radio Liseli)

By Alfonso Kasongo 

Zambia, like many other countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, experienced the El-nino weather conditions, causing drought which triggered about 100 percent crop failure in 84 of 116 districts in the country.

However, the recent drought is likely to worsen the malnutrition levels in the country with nearly 52,000 children under the age of five in four provinces at risk of developing wasting, a form of lethal malnutrition-next year if no preventive measures are employed, a survey by Zambia’s National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) has revealed.

Another 276,000 children of  the same age group will have moderate wasting. 

According to the findings, over half of the households in five of the six surveyed provinces ((Western, Southern, Central, and North-Western) are currently experiencing moderate to severe hunger.

Western Province is hardest hit, with over 88 per cent of households experiencing hunger, and almost half facing severe hunger, putting children at risk of malnutrition. 

The report further indicates that children in the surveyed regions are at risk of becoming malnourished, as many families already face hunger and are unable to provide nutritious food on the table.

Rice fields in the Zambezi  flood plains of Western province showing dryness due drought  drought (pic courtesy of Radio Liseli)

And the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) country office has estimated that 112,000 women will have wasting with nearly 13,000 experiencing the most severe cases.

The highest wasting estimates among pregnant and breastfeeding women are in Central standing at 14.7 per cent, Western at13.4 per cent, Southern 10.4 per cent and Lusaka Rural at 10.3 per cent. 

UNICEF Director of Global Communication and Advocacy Naysan Sahba says children suffering from malnutrition are ten times more likely to die than well-nourished children. 

"If we do not act now, there may be devastating and long-lasting effects on the health, nutrition, and development of Zambia's youngest and most vulnerable population,” 

“We must urgently expand access to nutritious and diverse food, health services, and water, hygiene and sanitation services in order to avert the looming crisis.," she added.

The National Food and Food Commission (NFNC) Executive Director Mutanga Mapani indicates that ,the surveyed data clearly shows that without timely interventions, the country will experienced significant rise in malnutrition rates, particularly among children under five ,pregnant as well as breastfeeding women. 

A Standardised Monitoring And Assessment Relief Toolkit (SMART) survey by NFNC  indicates that over 50,000 children in Zambia ’s 84 drought stricken districts are at risk of developing severe wasting, the most lethal form of malnutrition next year.

And Dr. Mapani says the situation can only be averted if urgent preventive actions are taken.

Dr Mapani,however, attributes the malnutrition risk to wide spread hunger and difficulty in accessing nutritious food,hence suggesting the need for  urgent preventative measures to prevent a severe crisis.

“We are at a critical juncture. The findings of this SMART survey highlight the immediate need for preventive measures to avoid a severe malnutrition crisis.

The data clearly showed that without timely interventions, we could see a significant rise in malnutrition rates, particularly among children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women,” she said.

Meanwhile statistics highlighted by the Food Agricultural Organization, National Coordinator for Nutrition, Rhoda Mofya-Mukuka, during a media workshop on climate change food security and nutrition,Zambia experiences  all forms of malnutrition. 

Ms. Mofya highlighted that 35 percent of children in Zambia are stunted,41 percent of pregnant women experience micro-nutrient deficiencies giving birth to low birth weight children (9 percent), while 28 percent of breastfeeding women and 58 percent of under five children are anemic. 

Meanwhile 54 percent Children under the age of five have vitamin A deficiency.

Ms Mofya said  such weather conditions have the potential to further worsen micro-nutrient deficiencies and compromise the health of people. 


 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ZAAB QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL

Image
  ZAAB QUESTIONS  GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL  By Alfonso Kasongo  A collaborative network of concerned citizens, civil society groups, faith and farmer-based organisations, working together to strengthen the growing movement for agroecology and food sovereignty has questioned government's failure to avail the proposed new Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Bill.  Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) maintains that controversial Bill is inappropriate for the country and must not be enacted as it aligns the country to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 standards. The Consortium fears that once proposed PBR Bill is enacted in its current form, the new seed law may trigger price increase and corporate capture of seeds, as well as  country's food system.  The Alliance argues that government through the Seed Control  Certification Institute SCCI  has never presented the actual changes...
Read more

ZAMBIA LISTED AMONG 34 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE THAT EXPERIENCED DIGITAL AUTHORITATIVE RULE

Image
  By Alfonso Kasongo  The shutdown of internet to block access to social media during the 2021 general election has earned Zambia a slot among 34 countries worldwide that experienced digital authoritative rule last year. According to a research conducted by Keep It On ,182 internet shutdowns from 34 countries were last year recorded and are documented. Sadly 19 of the 34 countries are African countries, an indication of the return of the digital authoritatism. The report  discloses that the Zambian authorities shutdown the Internet during the the tight 2021 general election to block access to social media platforms which  include among others WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   The report however ,suggests that the country experienced digital authoritative rule which undermined the democracy of the country.    It further notes with pleasure that the shut down was fought swiftly by Chapter One Foundation through the court of law and that the Hi...
Read more

ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY

Image
ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY,  ACCOUNTABILITY ...hence prone to corruption risks,posing threats against building climate change resilience, TIZ report reviews. By Alfonso Kasongo Zambia's quest to remain climate change resilient might veer off course, if gaps such as weak climate regulatory frameworks, corruption risks and lack of transparency in the management of climate financing remain unaddressed. Ànd tackling of how the country supports mitigation and adaptation to climate change remain critical to building resilience to the worst effects. Climate resilient is generally defined as successfully copying with and managing the impacts of climate change while preventing those impacts from growing worse. This year's unprecedented global temperatures and stark devastating of climate change stress the urgency requirement for Zambia and many other countries to build climate resilience, hence the need for strong regulatory framework and transparency ...
Read more