Scottish Government funding provided to help Zambia crisis

Projects in nine different countries have been helped as part of the fund, which guarantees a minimum of £1 million per year and has done every year since 2017.

The £175,000 for Zambia will be administered by SCIAF and provide small cash grants for people facing food problems in the country.

Around £6 million people in the African country are currently facing a hunger crisis, with 70 percent of the country relying on farming to feed their families.

Climate change is having a big impact on the country and President Hakainde Hichilema declared a state of emergency, and SCIAF will help reach more than 9,000 people who don’t currently have enough to eat.

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Lorraine Currie, SCIAF Chief Executive, said: “Right now, people in Zambia and neighbouring countries in Africa are at crisis point, with failed harvest after failed harvest. Their dire need is at the heart of our current African Hunger Crisis Appeal. Children are too weak and hungry to go to school and are resorting to foraging for wild fruits. Mothers are going without meals to make sure their children don’t starve.

“The root cause is climate change, which is ravaging the region. It’s making weather patterns more extreme with more intense, more frequent droughts, floods, and heat waves. Rural areas, where most people farm to feed themselves are the hardest hit.

"This funding from the Scottish Government will literally save lives. Working with our local partners, we will make sure the most vulnerable people are reached with cash grants which will give them the freedom to quickly buy what their families need to survive. These are our sisters and brothers, and we will not forget them."

Since 2017, the fund has helped 24 countries with 31 activations with a total of £17.5 million and allows charities to respond quickly to sudden onset emergencies.

The eight charities who make up the HEF panel – alongside an independent chair – include British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Save the Children, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), and Tearfund. 

In the financial year April 2023 to March 2024, £1 million was spent in five countries to respond to four humanitarian causes, which were the Sudan conflict, Libya flooding, Afghanistan earthquakes and South Sudan border displacement.

A further £1.9 million was allocated for other responses including Cyclone Freddy in Malawi as well as four ‘Loss and Damage’ climate project in Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia and Pakistan.

The Scottish Government also awarded £750,000 directly to UNRWA for its response in Gaza and £500,000 directly to the British Red Cross to respond to the cholera crisis in Zambia

Angus Robertson is the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and believes it’s the perfect way for Scotland to help the world and be a ‘good global citizen’.

He said: “A key part of our commitment that Scotland should be a good global citizen is to support communities caught up in some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

A state of emergency has been declared in Zambia (Image: Christian Aid)

“With the climate crisis accelerating, often in combination with intractable and largely unreported conflicts, the number of people around the world who are in acute hunger or without a safe home is at record levels.

“Over the past seven years the HEF has helped save and rebuild lives in 24 countries. This has included financial support for high profile crises such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, but also for many other crises which are all too easily ignored, such as the Horn of Africa food crisis.

“One of the key aims of the HEF, in addition to providing financial support to high profile Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeals, is to help these particularly vulnerable but largely forgotten communities and encourage us all to help where we can.

“Over the past year the HEF has supported the Scottish based humanitarian charities, and through them their local partners, to respond to extreme flash floods in Libya, earthquakes in an already fragile Afghanistan, as well supporting communities in Sudan and South Sudan affected by violent conflict, drought and flooding.

“Funding was also granted in February to respond to a food crisis in Malawi, and a severe cholera outbreak in Zambia, two of our key international development partner countries.

“I hope it also demonstrates our shared commitment to be better led by the affected communities equalising the power imbalance that still exists between the Global North and South, whilst also fostering equality and human rights.”