THE Zambian government has made significant progress in distributing maize to districts affected by drought, with 71 out of 84 targeted districts receiving supplies.
Minister of Information and Media, Cornelius Mweetwa, announced that Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Lusaka, Northwestern, Southern, Western and Muchinga provinces have all benefited from the distribution programme.
The government has assured that the remaining districts will receive their maize within the next week.
Mweetwa added that the community maize sales initiative is equally making headway, with 300 of the planned 600 selling points currently operational.
“To date, 22,208 metric tons of maize have been sold, equating to 444,175 50 kg bags. Over 300,000 households have benefited from this programme since its inception.” he stated.
The minister highlighted that both financial and material support from partners has significantly reinforced government efforts to assist the drought-impacted regions.
He disclosed that government has received a total of K30,588,430 in logistical support and donations of food and other essential supplies and concurrently, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has been active in purchasing maize, securing 1,132.30 metric tons from Muchinga and Northern provinces.
“Additionally, the FRA has received 14,826.63 metric tons of early maize to encourage the national maize reserves.” said Mweetwa.
By Elesani Phiri
Kalemba May 27, 2024
