The Zambia Humanitarian Actors Platform(ZHAP) and Zambia Climate Change Network (ZCCN) have commended President Lungu for urging the Minister of Finance to prioritize food security in the coming 2020 budget.
In a press statement made available to Lusaka Star, the CSOS have said it is a prudent step for the government to place emphasis on climate change at a time when Zambia is experiencing effects of droughts and the hunger situation in the southern parts of the country.
The two NGOs aired out various concerns surrounding climate change and its effects.
They said the National Budget has not adequately addressed sustainable development interventions, particularly in the agro-ecological and the agriculture sector.
ZHAP and ZCCN have jointly acknowledged that as humanitarian actors, they recognize that even though climate change is not gender-neutral as women have been adversely impacted by these climatic shocks making them more vulnerable to poverty and gender-based violence
They called on the government to implement gender-sensitive strategies.
And according to the Vulnerability Assessment statistics in the 2019 VAC report by DMMU, 58 districts are facing acute food insecurity, projecting that by October 2019, the affected households will be more than 2.3 million people in need of emergency support across the country.
The two CSOs said they are committed to working with the President, various stakeholders, and the citizens to ensure a coordinated approach to the adverse effects of climate change.