Zambia has been seriously lacking rain for more than two months. An effect of the El Niño weather phenomenon, worsened by climate change. The drought devastated half of the crops.
1 min
Today, in Zambiamore than a million children are hungry, warns the NGO Save The Children which notably collected testimonies in the west of the country. According to Malama Mwila, regional policy and advocacy manager of this NGO in eastern and southern Africa, who answers questions from Lucile Gimberg“ this means that on a daily basis, they only eat one meal per day. And again, this meal can’t really be called a meal! »
“ Without food they fall asleep »
“ Somecontinues Malama Mwila, spend hours, in the savannah or in the forest, looking for wild fruits to eat. Otherwise, they eat what we call here mashwa. It’s a kind of aquatic root that they boil so that it’s edible.. »
“ What we are seeing in affected communities is that children are not able to go to school on an empty stomach. They can’t concentrate. A mother told us that when she looks at her children, she has the impression that they are sick. But really they just need to eat. Without food, they fall asleep, it’s a natural mechanism when we are hungry », concludes this regional manager of policies and advocacy of theNGO Save The Children.
Read alsoZambia: agriculture devastated by drought, country calls for help