By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE –
ON November 18, 2015, President Lungu led the nation in observing a national day of prayer, repentance, fasting and reconciliation in response to challenges that plagued the nation.
At the time, Zambia faced a serious power deficit that threatened to cripple the economy owing to reduced water levels in hydro-electricity generation plants that power the mines on the Copperbel t and industries that sustain the country.
Besides that, falling global demand for metals on the international market pushed down the prices of metals like copper, Zambia’s main foreign exchange earner, triggering a fall in the value of the local currency against international converting currencies, particularly the United States (US) dollar which was gaining in strength.
The falling value of the Kwacha pushed up prices of goods and services, resulting in a sharp rise in inflation which subsequently pushed up the cost of living.
Falling metal prices were also felt by the mines which experienced reduced incomes and profits and decided to shade off staff to survive.
That meant job losses in the mines on the Copperbelt as a result of falling copper prices.
These external factors were compounded by another factor that Government had little control over; a looming drought which threatened food security as a result of poor rainfall in the 2015/2016 season.
Added to that was the hostile political environment that sometimes degenerated into violent skirmishes which left people hurt. This threatened to compromise investor confidence.
Although Government had put in place plans and policies to deal with most of these problems, President Lungu, a professed Christian, took the advice of many members of the clergy who requested that the nation seeks divine intervention.
The members of the clergy quoted the story of God appearing to King Solomon (2 Chronicles 7: 14) of Israel after the king finished building a temple dedicated to the worship of God.
In that story, God promised King Solomon of divine intervention andhealing to any nation which humbled itself and sought God sincerely.
“If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn away from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land,” declared God.
The church leaders said Zambia, being a Christian nation, required divine intervention for the country to prevail over the many problems it faced.
During prayers attended by President Lungu at the Showground in Lusaka, a ring or circle of light around the sun or moon, which is scientifically known as a halo, appeared in the sky, driving hundreds of Christians into frenzy as most said the celestial appearance was a symbolic demonstration of God’s response to the prayers that day.
Non-believing skeptics may have found the claim absurd.
But recently, President Lungu disclosed that Zambia has recorded a surplus maize harvest in the 2015/2016 farming season.
This is despite a warning by the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) which indicated that some 14 million people would face hunger in southern Africa because of a drought that has been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Scientists, agriculture experts and climate change specialists equally warned that southern African countries, among them Zambia, would be faced with hunger this year because of drought.
Journalist Norimitsu Onishi expressed what had been said by many experts.
“The rains had come late to Zambia this season (2015/2016), and then only in small quantities, though recent strong rains up north have given officials some hope.
“Between 1960 and 2003, Zambia’s average annual temperature rose by 1.3 degrees Celsius, and rainfall has decreased by 2.3 per cent each decade. The rainy season has become shorter, marked by more frequent
droughts. When rains fall, they do so with greater intensity and tendto cause floods,” Onishi wrote in a recent article distributed widely online.
But in spite of predictions of looming hunger, Zambia could be the only country in the region with a grain surplus in 2016.
A statement attributed to President Lungu indicates that Zambia has produced a record 2.7 million tonnes of maize in the 2015/2016 farming season despite the difficult weather pattern which the country has experienced.
Officiating at the 2016 World Farmers Organisation 6th General Assemble in Livingstone last Friday, President Lungu said the feat of producing more than enough for the country has not come by accident.
He said contrary to those that felt the Government had neither resolve nor capacity to confront the economic challenges faced by the country, Zambia had achieved remarkable success in the 2015/2016 farming season.
“Despite the difficult weather pattern, the success has not come by accident but it is as a result of our clear decisions which we made to restructure both the input distribution mechanisms and the crop marketing exercise,” he said.
President Lungu credited the surplus yield to the commitment of farmers to work hard and the good policies the Government has put in place for the agriculture sector.
President Lungu also credited the good harvest to timely distribution of farming inputs like basal dressing fertiliser which had reached farmers countrywide by May last year.
This is besides Government’s decision to restructure the distribution of agriculture inputs were the e-voucher system was introduced.
President Lungu further praised the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) for having given farmers their dues on time for all maize supplied. This is the first time in decades that farmers had been paid without being kept waiting for a long time.
“We are able to confront the economic challenges and transform them into opportunities. This is why we are to laugh off those self-righteous sentiments and criticisms from some who think we have no capacity to run agriculture in particular and the economy in general,” President Lungu said.
The announcement that Zambia has a grain surplus comes barely a week after President Lungu visited neighbouring Malawi where President Peter Mutharika disclosed that his country had a grain deficit of 1.2 million tonnes.
The disclosure was made after talks among President Lungu, President Peter Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique and President Mutharika.
The three leaders, among other things, discussed modalities of addressing growing food insecurity in the region.
President Mutharika was hopeful that Malawi would procure sufficient grain to feed over 3 million Malawians affected by what he called “critical hunger”.
Malawi, Namibia and Botswana are among countries in the region taking measures to counter the effects of poor rainfall.
According to President Lungu, Malawi would still face a food crisis even after the country harvests its grain which was far below what was required to offset the deficit.
In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has already declared a state of disaster in rural parts of the country worst hit by drought.
According to the BBC, up to 2.4 million Zimbabweans need food aid, more than a quarter of the country’s population.
President Mugabe’s announcement came days after the European Union (EU) urged him to declare a state of disaster to enable donors raise money quickly to provide food relief.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing abnormally low rainfall since last year, leading to the deaths of thousands of cattle whose grazing areas have become parched.
South Africa is equally grappling with what has been described as the worst drought the country has ever faced in 30 years.
South African Weather Services say the drought, blamed on El Nino, is the worst to hit the country since 1982.
Although El Nino is a natural cycle that scientists have observed for many years, they have little doubt that climate change is also a factor in the lack of rain.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the El Nino event which affected the 20115/2016 season has been active since March 2015.
The phenomenon was expected to extend into early 2016.
The intensity of the event peaked in the last quarter of 2015 and is said to have been the strongest in the past 30 years.
The South African government has declared five of its nine provinces drought disaster areas for agriculture.
Whereas the drought may be wreaking havoc in other countries, the situation seems to have favoured Zambia which has suddenly become an attractive investment destination for commercial farmers faced with dwindling water resources in their countries.
Although Zambia has been known as a country of abundance when it comes to water resources, it is now that many in neighbouring countries are taking interest.
Zambia’s Ministry Commerce, Trade and Industry which plays a leading role in attracting foreign investment, says the country holds 45 per cent of the total water resources of the southern African sub-region both in terms of surface water and underground reserves.
This is making more sense now that the drought has hit.
The Zambian mission in Pretoria has of late been inundated by South African commercial farmers making inquiries about the possibility of investing in the Zambia.
According to Zambian High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba, the commercial farmers feel the drought has left very little
water for agriculture purposes in South Africa. The farmers are now looking up to Zambia which seems to have suffered minimal effects from the drought.
The farmers also feel that Zambia has benefitted from its Government’s active implementation of climate resilient programmes and promoting conservative agriculture practices that will in time boost agriculture production.
The farmers further feel that being surrounded by eight neighbouring countries, Zambia has a captive market for its agriculture produce.
“It is because of these reasons that we have received many requests from large scale commercial farmers in South Africa who want to come here,” Mr Mwamba said.
Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) feels the country should reposition itself and take advantage of challenges of food insecurity in neighbouring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to grow its agro exports.
IAPRI Executive Director Chance Kabaghe said with the prevailing climate change and drought in some parts of the region, Zambia could use its fairly good farming season to increase its earnings from exports of agriculture products like maize to drought prone countries.
“If we have an export opportunity as a country, we should take full advantage of that opportunity. At this point, with the climate changes and the drought that many of our surrounding countries have experienced since last year, I think we in Zambia as a country are fortunate,” he said.
Whereas these may be seen as unrelated events, discerning Christians believe Zambia is in the midst of divine intervention which has spared the country from the drought.
They say divine intervention could also explain the local currency’s appreciated and the price of copper on the international market which has started picking up as many experts predict a full recovery owing to renewed demand in China.
These, to Christian believers, attest to God answering the country’s prayers of November 18, 2015.