Social Institutions and Resilience for Food Shortage Risk: Food Relief Activities in Southern Province, Zambia

To mitigate the impact of natural disasters, the Zambian government and non-governmental organizations instituted several types of food relief program. This paper examines these activities in terms of resilience for rural farmers, particularly focusing on a case in the Sinazongwe district between 2005 and 2008. The case study reveals that the relief food was extensively distributed by the government and NGOs to the population, seeking to avert a food shortage. However, at the same time, it was clear that the timing and targeting of the food aid was far from well-managed. To enhance the resilience of rural farmers, it is necessary for aid providers to respond in timely fashion to food crises, and to help farmers recover from the most vulnerable situations. The case in Sinazongwe, however, suggests that food relief programs seeking to cope with food shortage risks are severely limited, and must be reconsidered as social institutions to promote resilience