Hunger still looming in Kalabo

Hunger still looming in Kalabo

 Kalabo, August 8, 2014,ZANIS ……Kalabo District Commissioner Masela Chinyama  says  the area  will still  not have enough food  to cater for over 130,000 residents  even after the harvesting period is  over.

Mrs  Chinyama explained that there was  a shortage of food because  the people  of Kalabo were more into fishing  than farming  and that the terrain made it difficult for certain crops to grow.

The District Commissioner noted the need to change the mindset of the local people so that they could learn effective methods of farming crops that would do better in their terrain rather than concentrating on fishing.

Mrs Chinyama said this yesterday when Defense Minister Edgar Lungu paid a courtesy call on her in her office.

And  Mr  Lungu  told the District Commissioner to use available resources to alleviate the hunger  situation as government would not  encourage  giving out relief food all the time.

The Minister observed that people would not develop if they were used to receiving handouts.

He encouraged the local people to practice crop diversification as it was the only way out of hunger in the district.

Mr Lungu was disappointed that Kalabo district despite having a good terrain for rice farming, people were eating imported rice when they could grow and export it to other places.

He said there was need for local people to grow rice to levels of self sufficiency unlike the prevailing situation which he was not pleased with.