Declaring droughts in times of pregnant rivers, lakes, wetlands

Officially, countries that were hitherto known as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, that is Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, are in a state of drought and a regional food disaster.

This is so because the three countries have had no rain during the peak of the maize growing season.

The impression the declaration by our elected leaders have not baffled us because we know our leaders make decisions based on tried templates.

The declaration of national disasters in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi are tantamount to a declaration that crops will only grow when and where there is rain.  If this thinking were taken seriously and accepted internationally, Niger, Chad, Morocco, Mauritania, Morocco and Libya would be in a perpetual state of disaster. Namibia, Egypt, Israel, and many other countries that receive little to almost nil rain would not miss that characterisation.

They do not declare themselves such because they know crops grow with the support of water; not just rain water in the here and now.  Egypt and Sudan have for thousands of years relied on the Nile to grow crops and feed their huge populations; develop some of the most lasting civilisations, and generate electricity.

For its agriculture, Namibia relies on the rich Caprivi Strip, shared with Zambia, Botswana and Angola.  Richer nations with the most minimal rains rely on imported food stuffs.

It is disheartening that combined Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi host close to 10 fresh water lakes, lagoons and wetlands, and thousands of perennial rivers.

Zimbabwe has Lake Kariba shared in half with Zambia and plenty of wetlands. The two countries also share the mighty Zambezi River.  Zambia has Lake Mweru, Tanzania has Lake Tanganyika, the longest fresh water lake in the world, which it shares with Burundi, and the DRC, Lake Bangweulu and other smaller lakes, lagoons, and wetlands. Additionally, Zambia has the Kafue, Luangwa, Kalambo, Mulungushi and other rivers.

Malawi has the mighty Lake Malawi and Lake Chiuta which it shares with Mozambique; then we have lakes Malombe, Kazuni and Chikukutu. Our principal rivers include the Songwe shared with Tanzania, the Shire and Ruo (Portuguese for river) shared with Mozambique, the North and South Rukuru, Lweya, Kawiya, Dwambazi, Dwangwa, Buwa,  Lingadzi, Lilongwe, Thuchila, Likhubula, and Nkulumadzi, the Chintheche, Mpoto, Chia lagoons and several wetlands, including the Lake Chilwa Ramsar Site, and the Lower Shire.

With such water bodies—with all the peace and tranquility around, and with all the combined 50 million hard working population—should Zimbabweans, Zambians and Malawians be declaring a drought over a region that is pregnant with water? Free fresh water?

Right now Lake Malawi and its feeder rivers are pregnant with water. In fact, Lake Malawi is so pregnant with water that lodge, hotel and pother property owners along the lake are crying for assistance that someone or something should cup out some water to save their infrastructure.

Our regional leaders should learn to bang heads, indeed, pool moneys for food, of course, and strategically invest it in irrigation and food production to serve the entire region, formerly known as Southern Rhodesia.

Zambia, alone, and Malawi, alone, can produce enough food to feed the entire Southern Africa.  Combined, Malawi and Zambia can feed the whole African continent.

From Washington, DC,  to Moscow, and from Oslo to Auckland people laugh at us, all of us, presidents, cabinet ministers, social media administrators, self-styled socialites,  irrigation engineers, agriculture pundits and others when they hear that we are “dying of thirst with our legs right in our free fresh water.”

Ashamed, must we not be?  Must we not practice our dictum of mindset change and only declare state of disasters when and where there are real disasters?