Zambia recovering from drought, so can Zim

ZAMBIA’S corn production expanded by about 70% this year after good rains followed a historic drought in the previous season, making agriculture the one economic sector that might grow in 2020.

Production of the staple crop probably rose to 3,4 million metric tonnes in the 2019-2020 season from two million tonnes the previous one, meaning the southern African nation is food secure.

A topsy-turvy climate has, for the past decade, wreaked havoc for Zambian farmers, the country’s biggest employers, with often drastic changes in rainfall patterns.

The worst drought in at least four decades decimated crops in Zambia’s southwest in the previous season. This year, the rains that fed the vast majority of its farmers’ fields have been abundant.

The bumper harvest is a bright spot in an economy otherwise straining under a looming debt crisis and the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Zambia forecasts a corn surplus of 210 099 tonnes will help cool inflation that’s soared to 15,7% yearon-year, the highest since 2016.

Zambia and Zimbabwe are twin sisters. If Zambia is doing, what is failing Zimbabwe?

Our biggest problem here is corruption and looting. We had the ambitious Command Agriculture programme, which did not change a single thing in the agricultural sector. Instead, billions of dollars were looted.

The chaotic land reform programme was the causal root of the country’s food crisis. As long we have this current leadership, we will not achieve anything.

Hungry child