THE EDITORIAL NEWS

ALLIANCE FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN AFRICA DEMANDS A QUICK STOPPAGE OF FOSSIL-FUEL FERTILIZER AND CHEMICAL USAGE TO RESTORE AFRICA'S NATURAL SOIL AND ECOSYSTEMS. ...as $1 billion plus funding has failed the AGRA agenda.  By Alfonso Kasongo  Africa's largest food producer networks are demanding a decisive shift away from imported fossil-fuel based fertilizers and chemicals towards self-sufficient, ecological farming that revitalizes soil and protects ecosystems. The networks have observed with concern the increasing erosion of soil fertility and destruction of ecosystems due to escalated use of fossil-fuel fertilizers and chemicals alleging that the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has deepened the continent’s dependence on expensive imported inputs and undermined the resilience of Africa’s food systems. Researches indicate that despite over $1 billion of funding from USAID, the Gates Foundation, and the governments of UK, Canada, Germany and others — donor-commiss...

  2 OUT 5 PEOPLE WORLDWIDE CAN NOT AFFORD A HEALTHY DIET  . ...Urgent action is needed to address food insecurity in 2022. By Alfonso Kasongo With the rising threats on World food security, the World Bank has estimated that around 3 billion people in the world can not afford a healthy diet, the situation it said needed quick remedy.  The Bank discloses that 2 out of 5 people currently are unable to have a healthy diet reiterating an urgent action to address food insecurity in 2022. The World financial institution notes that the current food situation is slowly infringing people their basic need. "Food security is a basic human need, but two in five people – or around 3 billion citizens of our planet – cannot afford a healthy diet." The Bank, however, observes that diet costs have risen in recent months, with food price inflation above 5% in many countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate shocks, the war in Ukraine among many challenging other factors. To this...

PAN AFRICAN CLIMATE JUSTICE ALLIANCE DATES ZAMBIA By Alfonso Kasongo  The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has visited Zambia to monitor the Climate and Environmental programmes and appreciate various challenges that Zambia Climate Change Network (ZCCN) is faced with. Head of delegation FATHYA ABDULMAJIB who is PACJA Head of Finance held a meeting with ZCCN and its Partners to discuss various issues among them how to further enhance the existing partnerships so as to win the fight against climate change. Ms. ABDULMAJIB has pledged among other things increase the financing of existing Youth programmers to enhance youth participation in the just fight.  Meanwhile Ms. ABDULMAJIB   has commended ZCCN for the Young Digital Activists (YDAs) describing the initiative as a great step in information dissemination on climate change. And ZCCN National Coordinator Mr. Steven Nyirenda has thanked PACJA for the visit as he described it as an honor. Mr. Nyirenda adds th...

WORLD BANK CLASSIFIES ZAMBIA AS LOW INCOME COUNTRY  By Alfonso Kasongo  The World Bank has relegated Zambia to a low income country status from the lower-middle income country for 2023 financial year.  This has been necessitated by the destruction of Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita estimates recorded in 2021. GNI Per Capita is the dollar value of a country's final income, or GNI divided by its population. A country's GNI is based upon the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which measures the value of all goods and services produced within the country's physical territory.  Zambia's 6th Reublican President Edgar Lungu handing over instruments of power to 7th President Hakainde Hichilema at Heroes Stadium in Lusaka during the latter's inauguration in 2021                 Low-income countries,are synonymous with undeveloped, developing countries and are those which have the weakest economies when evaluated by the World ...

...  "come we discuss so that we do the correct thing" ,correct procedure on the enactment of the biotechnology,biosafety policy will be followed with full consultation,says Mr. Nzovu.  By Alfonso Kasongo  Government has opened up to engage the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) on the issues surrounding the validation process and content of the new National Biosafety and Biotechnology draft policy. Minister for Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu disclosed this when he keenly followed the explanation on  matters raised regarding the new draft policy from ZAAB National Cordinator Mutinta Nketani.  Ms. Mutinta Nketani  Featuring on the Environment WhatsApp live interview tonight, Ms. Nketani highlighted the reasons why the Alliance has petitioned Republican President Hakainde Hichilema to halt the process. And in his comments, Mr. Nzovu appealed to Ms. Nketani to meet the minister for further discussions. Mr. Nzovu was delighted ...

...whose agenda?    https://www.ecojesuit.com/gmos-and-zambia/ The article though long, gives an insight who is pushing the agenda.  This article will not address the issue of genetically modified oganisms or GMOs directly. We now have more than 15 years global experience of GMO crops. There is abundant evidence from top scientists across the world that GMO food is harmful. They cause cancers, allergies, infertility, and affect internal organs. GMO crops cross pollinate with non-GMO plants and contaminate the world’s genetic resource base. GMO crops are bad for the environment. There has been an increase in chemical use in agriculture with the introduction of GMO crops. And in general, GMO crops perform less well than non-GMO crops. This article will offer a brief history of the GMO saga in Zambia since 2002, and look at what is presently happening in Africa and in Zambia in particular in the past few years vis-à-vis crop seeds. In 2002, Zambia became prominent on the glo...

  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...