Government Steps Up El Niño Preparedness to Safeguard Food Security

Government has stepped up efforts to safeguard national food security and protect farmer livelihoods ahead of the El Niño conditions forecast for the 2026/2027 agricultural season.

Weather experts have predicted that El Niño will take hold during the coming farming season, raising concerns over its potential impact on agricultural production. In response, the Ministry of Agriculture has developed a Comprehensive Agriculture and Food Security Cluster Response Framework designed to strengthen resilience across the sector and cushion crop production and food supplies against the effects of climate variability.

Ministry Principal Public Relations Officer Balewa Zyuulu said the framework rests on three pillars: early preparedness, coordinated response systems, and closer collaboration among key players in the agriculture and climate sectors. The approach, he added, draws on lessons learned from previous climate-related shocks.

Among the measures being rolled out are the promotion of climate-resilient farming practices, expanded irrigation, improved pest and disease surveillance, stronger management of the country's strategic food reserves, and greater investment in farmer sensitisation and extension services nationwide.

Mr Zyuulu said Government is also encouraging conservation agriculture, the use of drought-tolerant and early-maturing crop varieties, expanded irrigation infrastructure, and improved water-harvesting technologies. Farmers are being urged to adopt these practices to limit the impact of the anticipated dry conditions.

In a statement to ZNBC News, Mr Zyuulu said the Ministry has further developed climate-smart crop varieties tailored to Zambia's different agro-ecological regions, helping farmers adapt to increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.