By MAYA NTANDA in Gaborone, BOTSWANA –
ONLY Zambia and Tanzania have a positive food balance sheet in the region, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State have heard.
. Chanda
President Edgar Lungu’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda told Journalists here on Monday evening after the Heads of State closed door meeting, that only Zambia and Tanzania had a surplus reserve of cereals in the SADC region.
Mr Chanda said the summit urged all countries that were in danger of starving due to cereal deficit as a result of poor rainfall pattern during the 2014/2015 farming season, to get the required interventions in terms of relief maize and cereal supplies.
“When an analysis of food security was done in the SADC region, only Zambia and Tanzania were found to have positive food balance sheet, in terms of cereal surplus,” he said.
He said SADC encouraged Zambia to use its surplus stocks effectively.
Mr Chanda said President Lungu would make major interventions in the 2015/2016 farming season and announce measures that would encourage farmers to benefit from the surplus crop produced.
He also said the fall in commodity prices such as oil and copper had affected SADC member states whose net export depended on the same.
Mr Chanda said the SADC economies were affected by factors outside their control.
He also said SADC countries, apart from Malawi were within the sustainable debt management and in the accepted threshold of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mr Chanda said the summit also formally commended President Lungu for appointing a female Vice-President.
He explained that the Heads of State made specific reference to Zambia on the appointment of Ms Inonge Wina as Vice-President during a session to debate the issue of gender parity.
Mr Chanda said the summit has since called on other nations to accelerate affirmative action to ensure that more women were elevated to positions of decision-making.
He said President Lungu also commended other countries like Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar where women have been appointed to higher positions.
Mr Chanda said President Lungu pledged to appoint more women to positions of influence both at corporate and Government level.
He also said SADC chairperson and Botswana President Lieutenant General Ian Khama expressed concern over the power deficit in the region and called for non-hydro based sources of energy.
Meanwhile, the 35th SADC summit has ended with a call from the chairperson to implement agreed priorities in strategic plans in order to improve the well-being of citizens.
In his closing remarks, Gen Khama said the summit adopted important decisions that cut across sectors which were necessary to implement in good time.
Gen Khama recognised the continued support of the regional developmental cooperating partners (ICPs) for their immense contribution and urged them to continue with their support towards regional industrialisation.
According to a communiqué released after the summit, member states signed legal protocols among them to continue implementing the regional agriculture policy and relevant protocols in order to improve agricultural production and food security.
In area of climate change, summit underscored the need for the region to continue to work with all progressive partners and strive to build consensus on a continental basis.
The summit also noted the significant improvement in the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and also called upon the Government of Madagascar and all political key stakeholders to safeguard achievements made in the nation building and reconciliation by fully implementing the SADC roadmap.
