Zambia declares serious drought ‘national disaster’ after emerging from deadly cholera outbreak

Zambia has declared the debilitating drought the southern African country is currently going through a national disaster and emergency, with its president saying the crisis brought on by El Niño has devastated the agricultural sector, affecting more than one million families.

Declaring the severe drought a national disaster and emergency, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Thursday (29 February) also warned it has devastated food production and electricity generation as the nation battles to recover from a recent deadly cholera outbreak. Like some of its neighbors, the southern African country has gone without rain for five weeks at a time when farmers need it the most. “The destruction caused by the prolonged drought spell is immense,” the president said in an address to the nation, adding that the dry spell has already affected 84 of the country’s 116 districts.

Hichilema also said authorities will take food from areas where there is an excess and distribute it to needy areas but, on top of that, the country still plans more food imports and is mobilizing United Nations agencies and local businesses to assist. Due to influence of El Nino on the 2023-2024 rainy season, Zambia has lost one million hectares from 2.2 million planted crops. Zambia was also recently hit by one of its worst cholera outbreaks that killed more than 400 people and infected more than 10,000. Some Zambians, weary of continued crises, have coined songs labeling the outbreaks of coronavirus and cholera as well as the current drought as a “triple tragedy,” said Hichilema.