MSHAMDANE RELIVES YEARS OF DROUGHT

MBABANE – While the current drought situation seems to be worsening, there are prayers that the state of affairs does not replicate that witnessed between 1992 and 1997 where close to 100 000 cattle died.

Retired Chairman of the National Disaster Management Agency Dr Ben Mshamndane Nsibandze, in an interview, relived the years when the country’s economy and livelihood of the people was threatened by a serious drought that ravaged across the kingdom. The drought started in 1992, just when Nsibandze had assumed his duties as the Chairman of the agency.

He recalls the hardships that his organisation was faced with while trying to ensure that the underprivileged did not die of hunger. “It was a difficult period, we had not seen anything like it before, where people had to beg for food. It was a terrible situation. A report from the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed 96 000 cattle to have been killed by the drought then,” he said.

Currently, official statistics reflect that about 20 000 cattle have died due to the drought situation and there are fears that more could die.
He said as an agency responsible for mitigating against disastrous situations, they had to come up with contingency plans. “We had a lot of support from non governmental organisations (NGOs). Most of them were adequately funded so they managed to extend help to us. The UN agencies came on board as well as other international organisations.

We were also not sitting and doing nothing but moved from door to door getting assistance to ensure that no one died of hunger. Milling companies, including the National Maize Corporation (NMC), tried to make the best with what they had as well. We had to source maize from Malawi while the Taiwanese Government was happy to assist,” he explained.

One of the key elements that somehow made the situation manageable, according to Nsibandze, was that the Early Warning Unit within the Agriculture Ministry was vibrant then. He said the unit was able to send out a warning well on time and everyone sprang into action. “Hard as it was, we were prepared for the drought and did our best to ensure that no life was lost. Yes, many cattle died because the situation was dire but we conquered at the end,” he said. Nsibandze noted that even with the current drought, his prediction was that the situation would worsen.

“It’s getting worse even now. The greens and other plants that people and livestock make use of are not there anymore, yet no rains are  forthcoming. I’m not sure how people will cope. The difference with then and now is that during the 1992 disaster, the NGOs were willing to help, they would actually do anything for Swaziland. They voluntarily wanted to contribute in the fight against hunger but now it’s a different story,” he explained.

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