The Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has castigated the Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD) for failing to provide accurate and timely weather forecasts describing, their failure to do so as catastrophic.
Union president Javis Zimba said the failure to forecast accurately had impacted farmers and left them stressed and uncertain about their livelihoods.
The comment was prompted after two contradictory forcasts within a space of two days where at first the ZMD issued an agricultural advisory for farmers, particularly in Northern, Luapula, Muchinga, Copperbelt, North-Western and Northern parts of Eastern Province, indicating sufficient rainfall and soil moisture in the next 10 days. ZMD even went to the extent of planting, and weeding, while also urging farmers to prepare for potential waterlogging by constructing drainage channels and splitting fertilizer applications due to the expected excessive rainfall.
But a few days later, minister of Green Economy and Environment Mike Mposha issued a warning of higher temperatures ranging from 36-43 degrees Celsius coupled with reduced rainfall in most parts of Zambia that would last up to December 12, 2024.
Mposha said Luapula, Northern and Muchinga provinces were only expected to receive an improvement in rainfall patterns starting from December 11, 2024
Expectedly, the frustration with which farmers and Zambians generally have received the news is understandable, especially with evident fears still palpable given the very sad situation the country went through with the severe drought situation in the previous farming season.
Like ZNFU, we urge the government to put in more resources into the ZMD given the very unpredictable nature of weather patterns in this new age of climate change. ZMD cannot continue being handled in the same business as usual fashion the department has been handled for many years, especially now when the people are looking out for assurance in the forecasts provided to them to enable them make informed choices.
And we agree firmly with ZNFU for the country to move away from the 20-day analysis and invest more resources in the ZMD for more reliable forecasts.
Actually, we thought contingency measures, or beyond that more proactive measures should have been accommodated in the national budget of 2025 given the experiences of the past. The government can surely move away from this culture of always wanting to be urged to do the right thing when all that is needed by our leaders is simple common on matters that are too obvious to all.
Having the ZMD continue operating in the same manner it has is simply inviting more trouble on the country. Actually by investing more into the ZMD, the government also stands to benefit greatly as the same will inform their decision making on critical national matters, during these times of unpredictable weather patterns.
By Daily Revelation Editor
The Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has castigated the Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD) for failing to provide accurate and timely weather forecasts describing, their failure to do so as catastrophic.
Union president Javis Zimba said the failure to forecast accurately had impacted farmers and left them stressed and uncertain about their livelihoods.
The comment was prompted after two contradictory forcasts within a space of two days where at first the ZMD issued an agricultural advisory for farmers, particularly in Northern, Luapula, Muchinga, Copperbelt, North-Western and Northern parts of Eastern Province, indicating sufficient rainfall and soil moisture in the next 10 days. ZMD even went to the extent of planting, and weeding, while also urging farmers to prepare for potential waterlogging by constructing drainage channels and splitting fertilizer applications due to the expected excessive rainfall.
But a few days later, minister of Green Economy and Environment Mike Mposha issued a warning of higher temperatures ranging from 36-43 degrees Celsius coupled with reduced rainfall in most parts of Zambia that would last up to December 12, 2024.
Mposha said Luapula, Northern and Muchinga provinces were only expected to receive an improvement in rainfall patterns starting from December 11, 2024
Expectedly, the frustration with which farmers and Zambians generally have received the news is understandable, especially with evident fears still palpable given the very sad situation the country went through with the severe drought situation in the previous farming season.
Like ZNFU, we urge the government to put in more resources into the ZMD given the very unpredictable nature of weather patterns in this new age of climate change. ZMD cannot continue being handled in the same business as usual fashion the department has been handled for many years, especially now when the people are looking out for assurance in the forecasts provided to them to enable them make informed choices.
And we agree firmly with ZNFU for the country to move away from the 20-day analysis and invest more resources in the ZMD for more reliable forecasts.
Actually, we thought contingency measures, or beyond that more proactive measures should have been accommodated in the national budget of 2025 given the experiences of the past. The government can surely move away from this culture of always wanting to be urged to do the right thing when all that is needed by our leaders is simple common on matters that are too obvious to all.
Having the ZMD continue operating in the same manner it has is simply inviting more trouble on the country. Actually by investing more into the ZMD, the government also stands to benefit greatly as the same will inform their decision making on critical national matters, during these times of unpredictable weather patterns.
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