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Southern Africans consumes more than a fifth of the world’s maize output.

It’s like telling Italians to stop eating pasta.

But Zambia’s vice president Inonge Wina insists the staple in Southern African countries should be ditched in favour of more nutritious foods.

Her country and many of its neighbors are in the grip of drought that has severely reduced maize production.

The climate-change related crises has led to 1,7 million Zambians – that’s 18 per cent of the population – suffering severe food insecurity.

The UN-linked Relief Web says 40 percent of  Zambian children under five years are stunted.

Wina advises Zambians to eat more millet, sorghum, cassava and sweet potatoes

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He’ll also see community leader civil society activists and the diplomatic corps ahead of mass in Maputo tomorrow.

Visiting Mozambique lets Pope Francis concentrate on two main themes of his pontificate: care for the planet and compassion for the poor.

Although he’s not leaving the capital, he’ll see victims of the two devastating cyclone that hit Mozambique earlier this year, killing more than 600 people.

The Pope shares the majority opinion that these extreme weather phenomena are attributable to global warming and he has urged governments to make necessary changes to reduce climate change and protect the planet for generations to come.  

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She’s addressed parliament in that West African state on the 400th anniversary of the start of the slave trade from Africa to America.

Moved to tears by visiting the fortress from where  hundreds of thousands of slaves had their last glimpse of Africa before being shipped off to the United States and the Caribbean, Nancy Pelosi says there’s a lesson.

“These profound places are a reminder of mankind’s capacity for great evil, but also for great strengthened resiliences>” she said.

She says the US and Ghana must pursue smart, economic sustainable cooperation that will lift the lives of their people.

She describes the more than 200 000 Ghanaians living in the US as a vitality.

Together the US and Ghana must fight climate change, which she calls an existential threat.

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President of the European Council Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are attending.

This is the first summit between these strategic partners since 2013.

South Africa is the only African country that has relations with the EU at this level and one of 10 internationally.

Their relationship is moving from one of dependency to partnership.

With economy topping the agenda,  President Cyril Ramaphosa will have another opportunity to showcase South Africa as an investment destination as part of his plans to draw a trillion rand into the country over the next five years.

The summit will also deal with international challenges like climate change, migration and human rights.

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The host, Canadian premier Justin Tudeau will lead the G7 discussion on advancing the ocean economy. 

But they’ll also make their strong feeling felt about Washington’s new protectionist moves.

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US President Donald Trump will leave the G7 summit before it get to discussing the environment and climate change.

He’s  at odds  his counterparts on these issues and won’t abide being lectured by them.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made the trip to Quebec because he believes internationalmoves to enhance ocean economies fits in with South Africa’s operation Phakisa using the country’s nearly 4 000km-long coastline to create a  million jobs and add R177 billion to the GDP. 

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It’s  an indication , perhaps, that when it comes to saving the we’re all in the same boat.

French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a stern warning that the the rise in global temperatures is a permanent emergency.

“We are using the battle against global warming,” he says. “Leader can no longer say they didn’t;t know. We are learning about this every day.

The World Bank says it will stop funding oil and gas explorations in 2019.

Business leaders are making new commitments on using renewable energy.

Macron has taken up the cudgels to make these meaningful despite the fact that President Donald Trump is pulling the United States out of the historic Paris accord.

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Host Angela Merkel is among those trying to give this prominence as Germany projected to pay $107 million a year for the increasing number of refugees its taking in.

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The meeting of leaders from the world’s richest and most industrialized countries brings issues into sharp relief.

They have to deal with growing protectionism in trade, climate change, violent extremism and efforts to stop North Korea becoming a  nuclear power.

So as pressing as it is – particularly to European members of the G20 – the issue of burgeoning migration from Africa – will have to take its place in the queue.

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