The Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has started the distribution of relief maize in Chipangali District of Eastern Province.District Commissioner, Paul Sakala, says 5, 700 by 50 kilogram bags of white maize will be distributed to all the eight wards in Chipangali Constituency.
Mr Sakala was speaking when he flagged off the distribution of the staple food at Nyiombo village in Sisinje ward of Chipangali Constituency.
He said 80 percent, representing 4, 560 by 50-kilogram bags would be given as food for work where members of the community through their traditional leaders would identify what to work on before they were given the maize.
Mr Sakala noted that the remaining 20 percent which represented 1, 140 by 50 kilogram bags, would be for vulnerable people who included the aged, widows, orphans, female and child headed households and people with disabilities.
“Looking at the situation on the ground, it is as a result of what we experienced last farming season when most farmers cultivated cash crops such as soya beans at the expense of maize which is the staple food,’’ he said.
Mr Sakala observed that through DMMU, President Hakainde Hichilema directed that maize from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) storage sheds in the district be distributed to people that had been hit by hunger.
Paramount Chief Gawa Undi’s induna, Loza Phiri, thanked the government for the gesture.Mr Phiri also urged the government not to relent in assisting people especially with the prolonged dry spell that affected the area.
He further told the community to be vigilant during the sharing of the maize so that families did not get more than what was expected of them in order to allow for more people to benefit.
“When a person tastes something, he develops a desire to continue eating and he will ask when the next consignment of food will come. This is the reason why we are asking you to continue remembering us when we are found in this situation,” Mr Phiri said.
Meanwhile, one of the recipients, Vainess Phiri, 62 said the relief maize was timely as it would reduce hunger in their homes.
Ms Phiri said people were worried about how they were going to survive if the government did not provide the relief maize.
50kg per family? If so, for how long? They sector in-charge may need to place semi permanent posts towards facilitating the same to continuously provide the said service delivery.
Understandably, most small farmers use the same crops to butter their many day-to-day life survival.
Country of relief food.
Sixty years after independence still living on handouts. Any estimate when we will start producing and planning for the rainy day? The size of our thinking is truly amazing (in the negative sense). By now we should be feeding our 8 +1 neighbors while earning foreign exchange. What is wrong with us?