{"id":23025,"date":"2024-08-24T19:01:42","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T19:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biografrica.com\/?p=23025"},"modified":"2024-11-24T14:11:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T14:11:40","slug":"meet-ken-seecharran-the-environmental-consultant-with-solutions-to-zambias-drought-and-food-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biografrica.com\/meet-ken-seecharran-the-environmental-consultant-with-solutions-to-zambias-drought-and-food-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Ken Seecharran, the Environmental Consultant, With Solutions to Zambia\u2019s Drought and Food Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On February 29th, 2024, the Zambian President declared the country\u2019s devastating drought a national disaster<\/a>. His recent national speech revealed that the catastrophe has \u201caffected 84 out of 160 districts across the country.\u201d Pasture availability has reduced for animals, and water levels have also been impacted. He appealed for humanitarian intervention<\/a> for up to 6.6 million people who are in severe need of food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts say Zambia is getting drier because it now gets less rain (a 2.3% drop in rain every decade), and more evaporation (5 to 10 mm per day over a year).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biografrica <\/a>caught up with Ken Seecharran<\/a>, a highly respected environmental and mining consultant with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities surrounding resource management in Africa. Ken, over the years, has done some impressive environmental consulting work across the globe; from the north of the Copperbelt on the Congolese border to some outstanding work in Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ken Seecharran at Lake Kariba, monitoring the decline in the water level.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the chat, Ken highlighted, amongst others, some plausible solutions to the current drought crisis in Zambia that is impacting the Zambezi River, the nation\u2019s energy security, and food production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Interest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Drilled on why he is interested in contributing to the resolution of the crisis, Ken gave some highlights of his life as a young man in Zambia where he lived for sixteen years. His language demonstrated the emotional connection with the country he considers his second home. He believes only an engineered solution can resolve this problem that started in 2009, with the current cost of resolution pegged at approximately US$ 7 million, as against US$ 3 million which it would have cost in 2009. He warned this would increase to US$ 10 million in three years, if not tackled now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to him, Zambia currently gets eight hours of load shedding per day, and this is regrettable because when he first visited in 1981, they were exporting power to South Africa<\/a>, Zaire <\/a>(now Democratic Republic of Congo) and other countries, but they now import power with money the country barely has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken is interested in tackling the root causes of deforestation, which experts say is linked to evapotranspiration and lowered local rainfall as a consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ken can be seen here gauging the water level above Victoria Falls in the rainy season.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His solution will span about three years to fully manifest and will involve 65 people, creating employment for the locals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the overarching solution, he is proposing a five-year afforestation plan that he embodied in an eight-page dossier where exhaustive light is thrown on the specific methods and challenges involved. The planting of trees on the bank of the Zambezi forms the core of the afforestation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Solutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some of Ken\u2019s proffered solutions are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n