Natural disasters and poor preparedness Essay Example

Natural disasters and poor preparedness Paper The country has previously witnessed two major drought years in he last decade; 1991/92 and 1995/96. The 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons were also beset with poor rainfall patterns of alternating dry spells and flooding and a large amount of food aid was required to avert hunger. A need to improve disaster preparedness The effect on agricultural production has thus been cumulatively negative. The drought years resulted in corresponding decline in area harvested for maize. A problem in relation to droughts has been the inconsistence and inaccurate projections of the early warning systems on climatic conditions as indicated in the projections for the 2001 season. There is need to improve the early warning capability in Zambia as well as improving drought preparedness, food security reserves, seed security, water conserving technology and irrigated farming to reduce susceptibility to the vagaries of weather. Flood disasters In Zambia flood disasters also occur. Normally floods are a necessary part of most river ecosystems to maintain a wide range of wetland habitats. Foods bring benefits as they help to maintain the fertility of soils by depositing layers of silt and flushing salts from surface layers; and they provide water for natural irrigation and for fisheries which are a major source of protein. Flood disasters in Zambia have been caused by river flooding from heavy or severe rainfall, sometimes associated with hailstorms which can destroy crops and buildings. We will write a custom essay sample on Natural disasters and poor preparedness specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Natural disasters and poor preparedness specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Natural disasters and poor preparedness specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Len addition, human manipulation of watersheds, drainage basins and flood plains can also exacerbate floods. Even though flooding affects almost all provinces in the country, it is worse in areas where surface vegetation has been removed and in low lying flood plains and valleys in the Zambia, Chamber’s and Langue river basins. Crop and livestock diseases Outbreaks Of diseases Of crops and livestock in recent years have set back forts to develop agriculture and have restricted entry to broader global markets. In crops, serious outbreaks of the Larger Grain Borer (LAG) in maize led damage to storage. Cassava Mealy Bug and Cassava Mosaic Virus devastated cassava production in the sass, wiping out whole fields and reducing yields to almost zero in some cases. There have been serious diseases in soybeans (frog eye) and sweet potatoes (weevils). K The livestock sub sector has not been spared with outbreak of Corridor Disease (East Coast Fever) being one of the sad episodes that has been responsible for failure of evildoers in Southern province. Some households have lost whole herds of cattle and its attendant benefits of manure, milk, draught power, and meat-National cattle population reduced from 5. Million in 1 996 to 1. 2 million in 2000. The effect on draught power and food security was devastating. Other serious cattle diseases have included Transmissions, foot and mouth disease, and Contagious Bovine Pleura Pneumonia (CUP). In the pig sub-sector, frequent outbreaks of swine fever have restricted the movement and marketability of pigs and pork products. The post Newspapers Zambia†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Tapir/2010 Disaster management By Robbie Muskie, Associate – African Centre for Disaster S on Wednesday 07 April 2010, CAT (706 Reads) Editor, The article on ‘Floods: what needs to be done? ND other articles about floods around the country by your reporters made sad reading, but what is more painful is that many people knew these floods were bound to happen. Natural disasters such as floods in a community are like a cancer in the body of a human being if not dealt with in the early stages it spreads and becomes intense with time. This is what will happen to natural disasters such as floods in Zambia unless he government treats the causes of these floods with seriousness. While threats of natural disasters all over the world are always treated and handled with utmost care because of the loss of life and property that follows when they take place, in Zambia the people given the authority to deal with these natural disasters believe we can only prepare for them and not prevent them as testified in the Zambia National Contingency Plan 09/10. In Zambia, we still feel we can dribble our way out of the natural disasters using political tactics and machinations and hoping everything will soon be resorted and everybody can return to business as usual. Showing a lot of care and sympathy for internally displaced people (DIP) and other victims of fl oods is not the solution. Sympathy should have been shown to them when they were being exploited by those who allocated plots to them. Reducing disaster vulnerability in Zambia will require increasing knowledge about the likelihood and consequences of natural disasters, empowering individuals, communities and public agencies with the knowledge and authority to lower risk before disasters occur. This knowledge will help the elevate departments and units to have authority to respond effectively to hazards before disasters strike. Increasing this knowledge and authority in Zambia will depend on how far the Zambia government is willing to open up the field of disaster management to experts in science and technology who can deal with these issues thoroughly and enforce the already existing laws on urban and country planning. Disaster management committees at all levels in the country are at the moment a comrades constituency whose composition and structure excludes experts who can give independent technical advice to reduce and reverent these natural disasters. Governing without ideology Editor The MD leadership is scared of losing elections because they do not want to join the unemployed population which they have created. If they had created jobs in the private sector, this MD leadership would not have been so scared of losing the 2011 elections because they would easily obtain other jobs after leaving office. However, time is against this party. The more the MD stays in power, the more confused the party becomes to an average Zambia for what exactly is the Mad’s philosophy? The party lacks the ideology to govern. They cannot e fiscal conservatives because of massive mismanagement of public funds, nor can they be accused of being constitutionalists because Of their partisan view of the Constitution. They are neither democrats due to their lack of progressive ideas on issues like freedom of information. I guess, they are still a movement as the party name suggests – a party in search of identity. It is this lack of ideology which has made Rapid Band’s prospects of winning the 201 1 polls a very difficult task. He has no platform or principles to follow. Zambia have moved on and are looking at the IF-UPEND pact as the alternative. The MD was given a chance since 1991 to create jobs, increase minimum wage, enforce labor standards, make investment bring revenue, improve healthcare delivery and education system, but they mismanaged the political capital which Zambia bestowed on it. Concerned citizen State of Lulus West Editor, The recent killing of Agenda headaches would have been avoided if anyone cared for the people of Lulus. For decades, the people in the area have been crying for a police station in Lulus West but their cries have been falling on deaf ears. The gov ernment is to blame for the death of Osaka and the desperate situation in Lulus West. This barbaric act is a blow to us as a people and the teaching profession. The loss of a teacher like Mr. Osaka who was among the few Zambia that had agreed to save the poor in remote rural schools and communities is truly demoralizing. In this generation, how can you have a constituency without a single police post. A place where 90 per cent of the houses for teachers are grass- thatched. Teachers in rural schools have been neglected by the government. The government does not seem to have any plans of taking care of the security of civil servants in extreme points of the district apart from the payment of eager salaries.