| On the nine-hour drive to visit SCIAF’s projects in Mongu, Zambia, I saw field after field of dried maize. Crisp, yellow, dead. No rain on the horizon. I met Kashueka, a single mother with four children, who was standing near her family’s field which was full of dead maize. She told me: “Really, we’ve had no food over the past year.” Kashueka grows all the crops her family eats – that’s the norm in rural Zambia. But in 2023, her harvest, like so many of her neighbours’, failed due to drought. And there were no jobs nearby to earn any money. Kashueka was forced to pick wild fruits and dig for roots just to put a meal on the table. In early 2024, the most vulnerable families in Mongu were supported by a short-term aid project. It was a lifeline, providing cash and food to last until the harvest in May. From the project, Kashueka and her family did receive some aid: milled maize, cooking oil and soya. This enabled her children to regain enough energy to go to school. However, this support was short term and stopped after three months. This year’s rainy season has failed, meaning there was no harvest in May. So now there’s nowhere left to turn. No money, no crops, no hope. For families in Africa facing hunger, this is an emergency. Your gift today could provide support to a family like Kashueka’s. |
| Donate today |
| Your gift can help farming families build resilience to droughts by helping them grow climate-hardy crops and vegetables and providing seeds for year-round kitchen gardens. You can help gift pigs, chickens and goats, and provide support to set up small scale businesses to generate new income. In Zambia this is the second year in a row with no harvests. 2023 nothing, 2024 nothing, what will 2025 bring? Your gift today can make a vital difference. Thank you, |
| Aisling Gallagher Zambia Programme Officer, SCIAF |