LUSAKA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Zambia needs to raise about 176 million U.S. dollars to supported people affected by hunger in some parts of the country due to poor harvest, an advocacy group said on Friday.
The Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance said the government has no choice but to declare the hunger situation a national emergency because it may not be able to raise the funds without donor support.
"Declaring the hunger situation a national emergency will increase donor support in the area of food and nutrition support, as the country is in desperate need of help to deal with this situation and save lives," Mathews Mhuru, the organization's country coordinator, said in a release.
According to him, about 2.3 million people in the country are in dire need of food assistance.
Mhuru said some donor partners have already committed to supporting the government in raising the money through emergency social cash transfer if the hunger situation is declared a national emergency.
He warned that failure to plan adequately will see Zambians dying of hunger and malnutrition due to increased food insecurity.
