Emergency relief to combat child hunger in Zambia

(Luxembourg, 16th January 2023) In parts of Zambia, last year, torrential rain and the subsequent prolonged dry period and drought caused widespread agricultural devastation. People living in rural areas were particularly badly hit, experiencing extreme hunger and suffering under the severe impacts of climate change.

As Mwaka Chibinga from our partner, BIC, in Zambia told us, the majority of smallholders in the southern province had very poor harvests because so many of their seeds were washed away by heavy rainfall and, therefore, unable to germinate. Of those that did germinate, many withered before reaching maturity because of insufficient moisture due to the long drought periods. All this had a severe impact on agriculture and livestock farming, the main sources of income for the region’s families.

In an effort to protect children affected by poverty against hunger, we, with the support of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, launched an emergency relief project in September 2022 to ensure food security for children.

In Choma, one of the districts in southern Zambia most severely affected by hunger, we are currently providing school meals to 7,218 children in 10 schools.

The children are given a warm meal every day. To ensure that they receive all the important nutrients, the porridge is enriched with peanut powder, sugar and salt.

Our project co-ordinator, David Immer, visited the project in November 2022 and reported: “I saw how much the children looked forward to this meal. Some of them filled their cans again to take some of the delicious, nutritious porridge to their siblings back home.”

This measure, which we will be implementing until the next harvest, enables children to continue going to school and improve their learning. It also means they no longer have to resort to other ways of getting food, for example by working or begging.

David Immer also spoke to the head of a local school. “She said that the children had been coming to class regularly again since a warm meal was available every day.” In times of real food shortages, these children would not normally go to school because hunger impairs their ability to concentrate in class. Experience also shows that, at such times, girls are more likely to become pregnant or get married when they are still young.

David Immer says, “Our project enables us to protect these children effectively against these kinds of child rights violations”.

More information about our partner’s projects can be found here.

This project is already fully funded. Should we receive further donations for the project, we will use them for a similar project.