PRESS RELEASE
On food price surge
The current food price surge is of great concern and if measures are not taken to mitigate the situation, Zambia is not going to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve poverty by the year 2015 says Micah Challenge. As it has been observed by The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) in their Basic Needs Basket assessment for April, the challenge of provision of sustained affordable cost of living is becoming even more formidable than before in light of current increases in global and national fuel and food prices. Micah Challenge is therefore, deeply grieved by comments attributed to Hon. Ng’andu Magande, the Minister of Finance where he was quoted as stating that Zambia will be immune to the impact of global food shortage (Post Newspaper April 26, 2008). “How can Zambians of who the majority are living in poverty and are unable to meet the cost of their basic food items be exempted from global food shortage?” asks Pastor Martin Kapenda the Campaign Coordinator
Micah Challenge says that the impact of price increases in basic food needs such mealie meal and cooking oil is felt intensely by poor families who have children attending Grade 8 to 12. Several families in the low-income communities are having their children drop out from school as they cannot afford the PTA + User fees which are pegged from K252, 000 to K600, 000. Micah Challenge calls on the Education Minister to direct all schools not expel any child on the account of failure to pay such school fees at one time. Micah Challenge appeals to the Minister to instruct schools to receive fees each term in order to assist those who cannot pay the lump sum at one time.
Micah Challenge is aware that this year’s harvest for most rural households will be significantly reduced due to excessive floods during the last year farming season. Micah Challenge is equally worried that the increase in food prices will not benefit rural farmers as they will have very little excess to sell to the urban market. Micah Challenge calls on the government to take practical steps to ensure that the rural population receives the necessary food supplements during this time of need. In addition Micah Challenge calls on the government to provide the country’s struggling farmers with subsidised fertilizers. Micah Challenge commends the government for resisting the donor conditionalities that resulted in Zambia changing from food aid importer to an exporter a few years ago. Therefore, we hail the Zambia’s subsidies program and call on the government to come with a strategy that will eventually end subsidies but at the same time ensure food security.
As a nation God has endowed this country with fertile land, minerals, water and visionary and compassionate leadership from the village chief to the community leader and from the church leader to the business leader and from government leader to artists and sports people. It will therefore be a treasonable case if we do not reduce the proportion of people living on less than one dollar from 58% to 29% by the year 2015. “We owe it to God who has entrusted us with so much and to ourselves, our children and our children’s children to fight poverty with all that we are and with all that we have,” said Pastor Lawrence Temfwe the National Coordinator of Micah Challenge Zambia
