Zambia experienced a severe drought characterised by a record-breaking dry spell from January to March 2024 (Zambia Society Trust 2024; WFP 2024a). The drought affected eight out of Zambia’s ten provinces, with the greatest impact in Southern, Central, Eastern, North-Western, Western, and Lusaka Provinces (Figure 1). Reports suggest that the drought during the 2023/24 agricultural season was the worst in 40 years (DMMU 2024 OCHA 2024; WFP 2024; Mwape et al. 2025), placing millions of households at heightened risk of hunger and destitution. The drought’s ripple effects (WFP 2024b; ACAPS 2025) included: crop and livestock losses; food shortages; reduced water supply; outbreaks of cholera and diarrhoea tied to diminished access to clean water; and widespread and frequent load shedding and energy shortages lasting well into 2025. Furthermore, the drought had macro-economic effects (including inflation, and reduced growth, revenues, and debt repayment capacity), and potentially political effects in the sense that the upcoming election in August 2026 may be influenced by perceptions on how the government handled the drought response.
Authors: Jeremy Allouche, Bridget Bwalya, Richard Bwalya, Vidya Diwakar, Felix Kalaba, Lukonga Luwabelwa, Arthur Moonga, Kate Pruce, Andrew Shepherd, and Marja Hinfelaar