{"id":59125,"date":"2024-03-02T22:57:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T22:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?p=59125"},"modified":"2024-03-02T08:59:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T08:59:47","slug":"the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster","title":{"rendered":"The Great Maize Sell-off: UPND\u2019s Recipe for a Hunger Disaster\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>In a baffling move that has left many scratching their heads and stomachs, the UPND government\u2019s decision to offload Zambia\u2019s maize reserves to neighboring Congo had ignited a firestorm of criticism. With food security teetering on the brink, citizens were left wondering if they\u2019ll soon be dining on promises instead of meals.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to part ways with our precious maize reserves seemed to have been made without consulting the common-sense manual. It\u2019s like selling your umbrella during a downpour and hoping for sunny skies. And to add insult to hunger, the vibrant and knowledgeable Chola Kafwabulula, who held the key to our food security fortress as Director of the Food Reserve Agency, was unceremoniously given the boot. Clearly, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is surplus to requirements.<\/p>\n<p>But wait, there\u2019s more! Civil servants with a knack for understanding farming patterns and the art of stockpiling food for a rainy day at the ministry of Agriculture were shown the door faster than you can say \u201ccrop failure.\u201d It\u2019s like kicking out the lifeguards and then wondering why everyone\u2019s drowning.<\/p>\n<p>And let\u2019s not forget the ingenious plan to distribute farming inputs like confetti at a wedding, with no regard for where the rain was forecasted to fall. Because who needs logic when you have political favors to dispense?<\/p>\n<p>Now, as the clouds gather ominously and stomachs growl in protest, the UPND government seems content to fiddle while Zambia starves. But fear not, dear citizens, for salvation may yet come in the form of President Hakainde Hichilema\u2019s epiphany. After all, it was he who once called for a hunger disaster to be declared. It\u2019s only fair that he now takes a bite of his own words, now that he\u2019s the one at the helm.<\/p>\n<p>As unrest simmers and riots threaten to boil over, one can\u2019t help but marvel at the UPND\u2019s remarkable ability to turn a food crisis into a comedy of errors. With records aplenty at the Zambia Met Department and the Office of the Vice President\u2019s DMMU, it\u2019s clear that the writing was on the wall. Perhaps it\u2019s time for the government to put down their pens and pick up some groceries instead.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, as the country braces for the impending hunger disaster, one can\u2019t help but wonder if the UPND\u2019s leadership style is guided by a compass or a mood ring. Either way, it\u2019s shaping up to be a feast of folly and a famine of foresight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\">Zambia<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. In a baffling move that has left many scratching their heads and stomachs, the UPND government\u2019s decision to offload Zambia\u2019s maize reserves to neighboring Congo had ignited a firestorm of criticism. With food security teetering on the brink, citizens were left wondering if they\u2019ll soon be dining on promises instead of meals. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":59123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,25,6,248],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-59125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-featured","category-files","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Great Maize Sell-off: UPND\u2019s Recipe for a Hunger Disaster\u201d - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a baffling move that has left many scratching their heads and stomachs, the UPND government\u2019s decision to offload Zam ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Great Maize Sell-off: UPND\u2019s Recipe for a Hunger Disaster\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a baffling move that has left many scratching their heads and stomachs, the UPND government\u2019s decision to offload Zam ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-02T22:57:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2024\/03\/sm_1709357240.820179.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1032\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"774\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"The Great Maize Sell-off: UPND\u2019s Recipe for a Hunger Disaster\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-02T22:57:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster\"},\"wordCount\":455,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2024\/03\/sm_1709357240.820179.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Featured\",\"files\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-great-maize-sell-off-upnds-recipe-for-a-hunger-disaster\",\"name\":\"The Great Maize Sell-off: UPND\u2019s Recipe for a Hunger Disaster\u201d - 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