Church leaders say southern Africa's farmers need long-term solutions

Published: 2005-10-20

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- More must be done to help farmers avoid food crises that again threaten southern African countries, said church leaders in Malawi and Zambia. Zambia faces widespread hunger due to poor and erratic rainfall in five of its nine provinces, but poor roads make it difficult to transport the little corn that did grow to communities that need it, said Reuben Chongo, who coordinates the food security and livelihoods program at the Zambian bishops' headquarters in Lusaka. This situation is worsened by a current shortage of fuel in the country, Chongo said in an Oct. 13 telephone interview. In late September, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said 12 million people in southern Africa will face food shortages this year. In Malawi, where the food shortage is particularly acute, the church is urging the government and others to find solutions to the crisis that are sustainable in the long term, said Father Joseph Mpinganjira, secretary-general of the Malawian bishops' conference.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .