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International Partnerships

Zambia: how to survive when rain and forests dwindle

This year, we’ve seen the worst drought ever. Usually, the rivers run dry here in this southern part of Zambia by July, but this year, they were empty already by May. The little water we have left is just enough for us — the people and the cattle. We have no water to raise any crops.

Juliette Machona — a villager living in Choma, Zambia

We brought together various people with backyard seedling nurseries and organised an association that provided them with a plot of land as a pilot project. This allowed them to work together on one big tree nursery while getting training and marketing advice.

Christopher Chisange, a forestry officer in the Zambian Forestry Department.

“Although this year’s harvest is a failure, we pray for rain next year so that our work will be rewarded and we can live and breathe easily,” says Veronica. The solution would be to have a borehole next to the nursery, and the programme experts are now looking into this.

Original article published by UN-REDD.