There is no food, water, electricity, and the smell of burning charcoal is everywhere

In Zambia, October is the beginning of the so-called lean season, which must be survived thanks to the supplies accumulated during the harvest. This year, due to drought, the harvest was exceptionally low, and the next harvest will not be until April. The ongoing drought, the worst in four decades, has affected most of the central and southern parts of the African country, the United Nations said.

Theoretically, rainfall should come to this part of Africa in two to three weeks, but the rainy season has been delayed for at least a decade. Instead of November, rainfall occurs at the end of December or in January, or almost none at all, as in the past season.

Estimates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that 9.8 million people, or almost half of the population, are currently affected by drought, and 5.8 million Zambians (33 percent of the population) will experience hunger during this lean period, of which 236,000 people will find themselves in a hopelessly difficult situation. This condition is described by FAO as “phase IV”, in practice meaning a high probability of starvation. In Zambian families, one small meal a day, saved mainly for children, has become the norm.

In small towns and villages there are shortages of maize, which is the basis of Zambian cuisine. According to the United Nations, approximately one million hectares of corn crops have been destroyed this year as a result of drought, almost half of the country's crops. There is also not enough rice and vegetables – these appear in the capital, Lusaka, mainly in frozen form.

There is a shortage of feed and hay for animals in the country. Breeders have no place to graze their animals because the sun has long burnt the grass and they have nothing to water them because the water sources have dried up. Many of them sell their animals for next to nothing.

At the Lake Kariba hydroelectric power plant, only one turbine out of six installed is now operational. The water level is the lowest in its history, i.e. since 1959. So far, it has supplied Zambia with 80 percent. the electricity it needs, and now produces less than 10 percent. normal production.

In the capital, electricity appears for an hour, sometimes two hours a day, and most often not at all. Outside of Lusaka, electricity is usually out for several days in a row. Hospitals, hotels and larger companies produce it themselves. Large diesel-powered generators run 24 hours a day.

The Zambian government encourages people and businesses to use solar energy, but the majority of the population cannot afford such devices, nor generators or fuel that needs to be refilled almost constantly. A liter of diesel costs $1.25 and sometimes you have to burn through half a tank to find a station that has it on offer. That's why you can smell and see the smoke from burning charcoal in Lusaka and all over Zambia.