By Happy Mulolani
Despite Zambia recording bumper harvests in successive farming seasons, the country could be at risk from anticipated El Nino.
As concerns of the anticipated El Nino grow wider, the Zambia Meteorological Department confirmed the much expected El Niño, which is one of the devastating weather phenomenon is likely to happen between May and August, this year. It is expected to persist to the early months of 2027.
Earlier, Senior Meteorologist, Victor Bupe, acknowledged, “currently, an 80 percent chance of El Nino conditions are developing during the projected period.”
This confirmation paved the way for government and other partners to devise measures to curb the climate shocks. For instance, a weather detector has since been launched.
Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit National Coordinator, Norman Chipakupaku, warned during the launch of SOFF, a weather detector, the looming El Nino crisis which may threaten food security.
Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa, reiterated government’s commitment aimed at providing an environment enabling and also promoting climate smart agriculture to guarantee food security to the country’s population.
“Current meteorological projections indicate a higher likelihood of below-average rainfall for the upcoming 2026/2027 agricultural season,” he said.
Mr Kangwa reiterated, the projections will inform the inter-ministerial policy adjustments and budgetary exercises.
These results come at a critical time as they provide a blueprint which aim at accelerating agro-processing, drive rural development, and restore Zambia’s status as a sustainable regional breadbasket.
This backdrop anticipatory provides a context for the Ministry of Agriculture to intensify preparedness measures for the country to take precautions of the national food security.
In a statement, Ministry of Agriculture Principal Public Relations Officer, Balewa Zyuulu, points out the need to protect farmers’ livelihoods in view of the El Nino projections for the 2026/2027 farming season.
To respond to the daring El Nino, “The Ministry has developed a Comprehensive Agriculture and Food Security Cluster Response Framework designed to strengthen resilience within the agricultural sector and reduce the potential negative impacts of climate variability on crop production and food availability,” he said.
Mr Zyuulu explained the framework focuses on “early preparedness, coordinated response mechanisms, and strengthened collaboration among stakeholders.”
He stated, the preparedness measures is informed by preceding climate shocks, mainly premised on promoting climate-resilient agriculture practices, strengthening irrigation development, enhancing pest and disease surveillance systems, improve strategic food reserve management, at the same time scaling up sensitisation and enhance extension support services countrywide.
To boost climate resilience, government is supporting a myriad of interventions such as “adoption of conservation agriculture practices, drought-tolerant and early-maturing crop varieties, expanded irrigation systems, and improved water-harvesting technologies,” Mr Zyuulu said.
Central to these practices, farmers are urged to integrate these production systems to enable them curb vulnerability in anticipation of the dry weather.
To keep farmers well informed and abreast with technologies design to assist them navigate the climatic shocks, the ministry of agriculture has developed a number of climate-smart varieties according to the country’s various agro-ecological conditions. This will enable farmers adapt to the changing climatic conditions.
My Zyuulu explained, government has intensified efforts to ensure agricultural resilience and food security through “nationwide soil testing, large-scale soil fertility mapping, and nutrient management studies to support informed farming decisions.”
Further, Government is promoting weather-based agricultural insurance, expanding access to irrigation infrastructure, and supporting the adoption of climate-smart technologies through partnerships with the private sector and development partners.
“To safeguard national food supplies, the Food Reserve Agency is strengthening strategic grain reserve management, while enhanced surveillance systems and pre-positioning of control inputs are improving preparedness against crop pests and diseases, including Fall Armyworm,” he said.
With all these measures, farmers should take advantage and work closely with extension officers as well as monitor official advisories of any latest information to enhance their production capacities, build resilience and mitigate the impacts of the anticipated dry spell.
Ultimately, Government will continue to work closely with key ministries such as Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, and the Disaster Risk Management Division to ensure food security and sustain productivity as well as provide timely weather updates to farmers and stakeholder for making critical decision-making.