Hunger Crisis in Southern Africa

In Depth

UN SPECIAL ENVOY VISITS SCHOOL FOR THE VULNERABLE IN ZAMBIA

As part of his mission to Southern Africa, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs has visited a school in Chongwe in Zambia which aims to reduce illiteracy among orphaned and vulnerable children in the community.

The Special Envoy for Southern Africa, WFP's Executive Director James Morris, will visit four countries across the region during his mission, to assess how they are coping with the "triple threat" of food insecurity, weakened capacity for governance and HIV/AIDS.

His mission began with a two-day trip to Zambia, where he took time to visit Chongwe Community School near the capital city Lusaka in the southeast of the country.

CHONGWE COMMUNITY SCHOOL

Chongwe Community School has been catering for orphans and vulnerable children since 2000. It has three classroom blocks, accommodating 165 children.

The school has received food assistance from WFP since July 2003. A breakfast meal is prepared at the school every morning, and pupils from households headed by women or children are given take-home rations.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

The school's primary objective is to promote the education of girls and reduce illiteracy among orphaned and vulnerable children in the Chongwe community.

Activities include adult literacy programmes and HIV/AIDS education and prevention activities, as well as a pilot agricultural project supported by WFP and Project Concern International (PCI).

TEACHERS

The school has five teachers, three of whom are trained and one of whom has received training in HIV/AIDS issues under a UNICEF-supported initiative and now acts as an HIV/AIDS counsellor.

However, the school faces a number of challenges, including a high turnover of volunteer teachers and a lack of resources.

CHICKEN RUN

A chicken run was built at the school with support from the local community and input from WFP.

Proceeds from the chicken run have been used to build an extra classroom as well as a piggery, which is still under construction.

GARDEN MATERIALS

Last season the school was also provided with garden materials, seed, fertiliser and chemicals, and an orchard was planted.

Plans are now underway to extend these agricultural activities to all community schools in Chongwe province, and to expand the project with support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the University of Zambia, PCI and WFP.

FOOD INSECURITY

The food security situation in Chongwe province is deteriorating due to a poor 2004/2005 harvest.

According to the preliminary district crop forecast, maize production has fallen drastically, from 90,000 metric tons in the 2003/2004 season to 25,000 metric tons in 2004/2005.

HIV/AIDS is reported to have contributed to the reduction in the amount of land cultivated, as people are giving greater priority to caring for the sick.

NO MAIZE ON THE MARKET

There is currently no maize on the market apart from that provided by the Federal Reserve, which is subsidised by the government.

Most households will run out of food between July and August, and many are already selling livestock including poultry and goats to purchase food.

The food insecurity situation is compounded by a scarcity of water for both people and livestock, and the situation is expected to get worse as the season progresses.

CROP SITUATION

During his visit to Chongwe, Morris visited a maize field, where he was given an update on the crop situation in the district by Food and Agriculture Organization Country Representative Dong Qingsong.

Morris also met the owner of the field, Felina Chibala, a 60-year-old widow whose husband died in 1995 and who supports three boys and nine girls, six of them her orphaned grandchildren.

Chibala depends on farming as her source of income and food, but is faced with a poor crop this year due to insufficient rain.

WFP in Zambia

Zambia's total cereal production for 2003 and 2004 was excellent, allowing export to neighbouring countries and sufficient surpluses for WFP to purchase over 150,000 metric tons of food within the country. To date, WFP has injected over US$30 million into the local economy.

WFP's relief, recovery and development activities are designed to help Zambians rebuild their lives and work towards a better and more productive future.

In 2005, WFP aims to reach 66,000 people in drought-prone or vulnerable areas of Zambia through its Food for Assets activities, including conservation farming, fish farming, rehabilitation of roads and dams and agro-forestry.

Under Food for Training, beneficiaries will receive training in a number of areas, including entrepreneurial skills, tailoring and beekeeping.

In government schools, WFP and the Ministry of Education implement an integrated School Feeding programme which involves local communities, school officials and parent-teacher associations.

In 2005 the project aims to reach 40,000 children in 111 schools in Eastern and Southern provinces. When fully operational, the programme will provide food for at least 70,000 pupils in primary schools.

WFP also operates a School Feeding programme in community schools, which cater for children whose parents can't afford to send them to government schools. By December 2005, an estimated 255,000 people, including 127,500 children, will have benefited from the operation.

Almost 97,000 refugees from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi remain in camps and settlements in Zambia, of whom 86,000 are totally reliant on food assistance.

WFP also provides assistance to the government's fight against HIV and AIDS through:
- targeting orphans and vulnerable children through basic and community schools, in collaboration with UNICEF
- providing nutritional supplements to some people receiving anti-retroviral drugs
- a nutritional programme for chronically ill people and malnourished children
- targeted food for assets programmes in high prevalence areas.

WFP's operations in Zambia are currently underfunded by a total of US$27.9 million.