By BRIAN  HATYOKA –
SOUTHERN Province Minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu has called for a quick crop assessment exercise in the province to determine the extent of looming hunger arising from the recent dry spells.

. Mubukwanu

Mr Mubukwanu said there was need for District Commissioners in the province to quickly put together a team comprising the Disaster
Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock officials to do a crop assessment exercise to prepare for eventualities.
The crop had not done very well this year in Southern Province owing to the dry spell experienced in the past few weeks.
Mr Mubukwanu was speaking in Livingstone yesterday when he paid a courtesy call on Livingstone District Commissioner Omar Munsanje.
“Looking around, the crop has not done very well owing to the dry spell we experienced in the past few weeks and you need to quickly put together the DMMU and MACO team to do a crop assessment so that we prepare and reposition ourselves very quickly so that we respond to
looming food shortages,” Mr Mubukwanu said.
The Government would be in a better position to respond to the food shortage so that people do not suffer.
Mr Mubukwanu also said the Government was priorisiting tourism, as the sector was key to job creation and poverty reduction.
“We have relocated the provincial capital to Choma because we want.
Livingstone to live to the expectations of people as Zambia’s a Tourist Capital.
Tourism has great potential for creating employment and fights poverty and hence we want to support this sector,” he said.
Mr Munsanje said Livingstone had a number of developmental projects
under construction some of which still needed attention.
Meanwhile, Mr Mubukwanu said the Roman Catholic Church had over the years played an important role of looking after the poor very well.
The Patriotic Front (PF) Government would like to collaborate with the church in promoting unity and uplifting people’s lives.
Mr Mubukwanu was speaking in Livingstone yesterday when he paid a curtesy call on Roman Catholic Bishop for Livingstone Raymond
Mpenzele.
Bishop Mpenzele said the Roman Catholic Church was at the service for all people as its core service was evangelism by bringing salvation to
all.
On Sunday, Mr Mubukwanu also officiated at the induction service for United Church of Zambia (UCZ) Western Presbytery Bishop Lubinda Manyando.