Kazungula District faces climate change adaptation

Government says Kazungula District in Southern Province is among many districts in the country which are faced with a challenge of climate change adaptation.

And Kazungula District Commissioner Pascalina Musokotwane outlined various challenges the district is faced with citing illegal tree cutting for charcoal burning, floods and droughts among others.

DMMU Principal Research Officer Lenganji Sikaona says his team was in the district to collect data as an input to the Disaster Risk Management Framework at district level.

“ It is important that DMMU develop a disaster risk management framework for the country that will guide Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation programmes, “ said Mr. Sikaona.

ZANIS in Kazungula reports that Mr, Sikaona said this during a district consultative meeting with a team of Officers from Lusaka’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (LDMMU ) held at the District Commissioner’s office, yesterday.

He said DMMU has been relying on secondary data for the past ten years in existence saying already, they have so far collected data in Eastern and Western Provinces and was now in Southern Province particularly Sinazongwe and Kazungula districts.

And speaking at the same meeting, Kazungula District Commissioner Pascalina Musokotwane outlined various challenges the district is faced with citing illegal tree cutting for charcoal burning, floods and droughts among others.

Mrs. Musokotwane noted that Southern Province, which was once the richest for timber, was now the most affected saying people from around the country come to cut the timber.

She said there was need for stakeholders to work together in combating the vice by carrying out massive sensitization campaign in the communities to educate the masses on the importance of preserving the trees adding that people of Namapande area have even encroached the forest for tree cutting.

Meanwhile, the District Commissioner also said the district has a challenge of water and sanitation problem.

Mrs. Musokotwane mentioned that Sikaunzwe and Mandia are among areas that do not have safe drinking water saying the salty water coming out from the boreholes in those areas was not fit for human consumption.

She mentioned that the district at large was also lacking behind on infrastructure development citing lack of a district hospital and a high school, which she said, was still under construction.

Mrs. Musokotwane added that the roads network in the district were in a deplorable state and needed serious attention.