Zambia: The residents of the Choma’s Simavwa Ward have called on the government of Zambia to increase the supply of Mealie Meals in the district. The government, through the Zambia National Service is providing mealie meals for the hunger struck areas of the country.
The residents of the Simavwa Ward have asked the government to open up mealie-meal depots for the distribution of the mealie-meal. They believe that the product will help the people in fighting hunger in the area.
One of the resident of the ward, Godfrey Malala reached out to the media with his concerns on Tuesday afternoon. He asserted that the people in remote places such as Namashoba have to bear extra travel costs to get access to the meals.
They have to travel to the Choma town to access the Government produced mealie meal which is the cheapest brand on the market. Accordingly, the people of the country have shared that they want a depot of mealie meals closer to their community.
Malala disclosed that it is disheartening to see people traveling long distances and spending so much money on transport. He highlighted that in many instances, they can not by the mealie meals even after making the effort due to shortages.
The country is dealing with a severe drought induced food shortages which have left many families unable to secure food. The government of the country has been dedicatedly working to provide the families with the assistance
Recently, Choma District Commissioner Gamela Sikaleya disclosed that Government has put up measures to cushion the hunger crisis. Sikaleya revealed that such interventions include placing all pregnant and underprivileged women under Social Cash Transfer, distributing of relief maize to underprivileged communities and expediting of community maize sales.
The District Commissioner had assured that depots that have not yet received the ZNS branded mealie – meal will do so as soon as arrangements to transport the staple product are underway by May 2024.