CEASAR MBEWE writes
@SunZambian
OVER eleven villages in Lumezi district in Eastern Province are threatened with hunger following floods which swept away most of their crops during the last farming season.
The affected villagers complained that as a result of the development a 50 kilogram bag of maize was now selling as high as K110 and a 25-kilogram bag of mealie meal was being sold for as high as K130 which most people in the area could not afford.
One of the villagers Arnold Nkhata, of Kapopo, a father of ten said he had planted about 2 acres of maize but heavy rains swept away most his crops.
He told the Sun in a telephone interview that late delivery of farming inputs had compromised the situation.
Mr. Nkhata said he was facing difficulties to raise money for his two daughters who are at the University of Zambia.
“This is the worst farming season for me because I had planted about 2 acres and only got 4 bags of maize which I had to sell to pay fees for my daughters at UNZA, so now we have no food even if you have money you have to walk about 100 kilometers to find food,” Mr. Nkhata said.
Another Villager Esther Nyirongo, of Gramara Village, a widow with six children, said most of her fields were washed away by the heavy rains.
And the constituency chairman, Patson Chipeta said government through the Disaster Mitigation Management Unity (DMMU) said 2,000 tons of relief maize was given to some villagers in the worst affected parts of the district.
“We are doing all we can to get government or any organization that can help us come forward and lend their helping hands because people are hungry here,” Mr. Chipeta said.
Meanwhile in Lumezi Boma a day old baby was found by passersby after being abandoned by its mother in the bush
The baby was found by three women who had gone to fetch firewood in the nearby bush.
“We were looking for firewood in the bush when we accidently stumbled on this baby, we quickly ran and informed the vigilantes who then called the police,” one of the women said
