ZAMBIA: Caritas Zambia, Parliamentarians, Push for Agroecology to Tackle Climate, Food and Nutrition Insecurity
Caritas Zambia poses for a group photo with members of parliament
Sandra Kunda
Caritas Zambia has wrapped up an important engagement with the Zambian Parliamentary Caucus on Environment and Climate Change at Reddy Convention Centre in Lusaka.
The meeting focused on the urgent need to mainstream Agroecology in Zambia’s agricultural system, highlighting its role in addressing climate change, nutrition, and food security challenges.
CSO-SUN Country Coordinator Danie Kalala raised concerns about the declining use of indigenous seeds, blaming market discrimination, especially by institutions like the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) for discouraging farmers to scale up the growing of multicoloured maize.
Dr. Chiza Kumwenda, a nutritionist from the University of Zambia (UNZA) pointed out that Zambia is facing serious food and nutrition problems, and urged citizens to embrace healthy, indigenous foods as part of the solution.
The National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) Executive Deputy Director Mathews Mhuru outlined several national efforts to improve nutrition, including the National Food and Nutrition Programme, food systems transformation, promotion of local foods, and stunting reduction strategies.
A Private Members’ Motion formulation urging to formulate a National Agroecology Policy was done at the engagement meeting.
An emphasis on the need to multiply indigenous seeds was also proposed for easy accessibility to farmers and for stakeholders such as Caritas Zambia to further engage individual MPs to reach out to the farmers.
In a vote of thanks, Ms. Maureen Mabonga, a Member of Parliament (MP), called on other MPs to commit to the action plan and ensure that timelines are met, adding that the engagement has created a clear roadmap for moving forward.
