Muchinga’s Kamwendo gets relief food

We have been telling our people to stop cultivating on the river banks to avoid the situation where crops are flooded. -Mr Kabanda

GOVERNMENT through Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has released 500 x 50 kg bags relief maize to Kamwendo area in Lavushimanda district in Muchinga Province.

Lavushimanda Acting District Commissioner Morris Kabanda said 625 households had been affected by hunger in the areas and needed relief food.

Mr Kabanda attributed the hunger situation in the area to floods caused by heavy rains and also wild animal conflicts.

‘‘People in the area are living in hunger following the disasters that area experienced last farming season in which fields of maize were washed away by floods and the human animal conflicts.

To this effect government through DMMU released 500 x 50 kg bags of white maize that had been distributed to the affected households,’’ Mr Kabanda said.

Mr Kabanda said of the 625 affected households, 500 had so far received 1 x 50 kg bag of maize each.

“We would like to appeal to DMMU to give us more relief food so that households that have not benefited can also have some food.

This area is very far from the market where people can buy food from, it takes about 2 days for them to reach the market and there are no roads so vehicles cannot access the area,’’ he said.

And Mr Kabanda has appealed to residents of Kamwendo area to stop cultivating on the river banks.

“We have been telling our people to stop cultivating on the river banks to avoid the situation where crops are flooded, government cannot manage to be sending relief food year in year out, he said.

Mr Kabanda has also encouraged residents in Kamwendo to start practicing crop diversification on the up land to enhance food security.