(from an article in the Times of Zambia)
"Farming has now become completely different and difficult," laments Dickson Siangoma. Mr Siangoma is a headman at Malundu Village in Lusitu area of Siavonga and is struck by the changing weather patterns and conditions that have made farming a little less predictable and a high risk venture. He wonders what has become of the world. "When the rain comes, it pours continuously for almost a whole day causing damage to crops. The weather pattern is in disarray. There is either too much rain causing floods, destroying houses and washing away fields, roads and bridges or there is drought. The situation is getting worse every day," he says. Small-scale farmers have been hit the most because of their limited capacity to adapt. But at the same time, unsustainable farming practices are said to contribute to climate change, posing a great challenge to environmental sustainability, particularly through deforestation as they continue to search for productive agriculture farmlands. New evidence from a study from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) indicates that on-going extreme changes and variability in Zambia’s climate could bring losses of more than US$4 billion in agricultural income in the next 10 years, driving hundreds of thousands into poverty and food insecurity.