A story from Zambia
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| Maize storage facility |
Sometimes, a lasting solution to food security is all about
helping a household figure out how much of crop (maize) harvest is needed for
consumption throughout the year. It was evident to me that a lot of people, if
not everyone present during the food budgeting technical trainings, could be
food insecure simply because they do not know exactly how much maize they
consume in a year, judging by the murmurs and sounds of surprise expressed by
people during the workshop and later the confessions.
Having gone through a
step by step detail in food budgeting while working with a representative
household of ten, it was realized that an average of six and half tones (0.65
ton per person) of maize are what could be enough for consumption in one round
year for Nakeempa, Batoka and Mbabala Economic Development Zones. "But I
do not harvest that much" one would say, heavily backed by a good number
of fellow workshop participants. "Hmm, so that should be my target, and
even more if I want to sell any" another would say, backed by chuckles of
confirmation from the rest. This was true for many! And they were certain of
the fact - it was them who had told me, the development officer, what they consume in a
week, I only helped them understand what that turns out to be in a month,
ultimately in a year. A good number of them confessed of having had a good
maize harvest in the past, but would end up selling more than they should,
thinking there was enough left for consumption, then later on during the last
couple of months of the year run into food shortages which would have been
avoided if they knew exactly how much maize to set aside before selling the
excess.
Issues of crop diversification became more real as the people realized a
good deal of maize consumption that would be spared if they had a variety of
food crops to eat from. "I want to grow some beans this year." "We should grow a lot of
groundnuts" the women would demand. Thanks to the food budgeting training,
the people of Nakeempa, Batoka and Mbabala now know what is required for food
security. My hope is now that they know how much is required for consumption,
each household head will have a target to achieve in every farming season if
they are to be food secure. It was concluded that if for some reason one does
not realize a harvest enough for consumption all year round from his/her
field/s, she/he has to engage in a business or work somewhere to earn extra
money to use to buy food later in the year when his/her harvest runs out,
instead of panicking at the eleventh hour.
[Written by the BIC food security & development officer]
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