THE Government has made significant steps in the development of the Nansanga Farm Bloc in Serenje District, where a total of 352 farm plots and four service centres have been demarcated.
Central Province Minister Ackimson Banda said recently in Serenje that the farm plots would be ready for allocation as soon as cadastral surveyors from the Ministry of Lands placed the beacons on farm boundaries.
Mr Banda said another development that had advanced was the construction of the 33 kilovolts power line into the farming bloc. Phase one of the project has already been completed.
“The Government has further facilitated the electrification process of the farm bloc. Phase one of the 95km stretch of the 33kv power line has been constructed alongside 29.5km of 11kv of distribution line,” Mr Banda said.
The provincial minister, who is Serenje Central Member of Parliament, said additionally to the completed works, the construction of one bridge of the three designed by the Road Development Agency (RDA) had been completed while another one would be completed soon.
“As for roads, the entire trunk road network of 155km has been completed by China Geo Engineering Company during the first quarter of 2010,” he said.
The minister was optimistic that local and foreign investors should now show interest in investing in the farm bloc to transform the economy of Serenje and Zambia as a nation.
“Owing to such investment in infrastructure in the farm bloc, various investors from within and outside Zambia have already shown interest in development of the farm bloc, which is commendable for the development of Serenje and Zambia as a whole,” he said.
Mr Banda assured Serenje farmers that the Government, through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), would buy their produce once the moisture content reached proportional levels.
He said owing to the increased production this year, the Government had scaled up on the number of satellite depots from eight to 15 to enable the farmers sell their maize at no or low transport costs.
“I am pleased to note that following the completion of the holding depot at the turn-off, all the maize which the FRA will buy will be retained in the district unlike in the past,” Mr Banda said.
The minister cautioned farmers to guard against HIV/AIDS, which he said had not spared the agricultural realm.
[Times of Zambia]
Good timing, my severence pay from my prevoius employers is ready! Now, how do I go about getting myself a farm in the block?
Good signs or is this PR che?
If the farming block is almost ready, surely the Minister must now be telling us the procedure for acquiring these farms. Why leave out the most important part of the story?
The plots have been “allocated” already as we speak. I concur with #3,getting land in Zambia through the right channels is much tougher than getting a PHD…
This is a country which is only interested in political news. When you have no interest in business and economic news and every one only aspires to be a politician, how can a country develop. Here is important information. Use it. If you are serious, go to Serenje and see the DACO.
We need more of such projects if we are serious about fighting hunger and poverty. It should be replicated through out the country. The future of this country lies in agriculture. Well done GRZ.
Ananza, the information on applications would be usefull. But ofcourse a pree release can only let you know so much. If you are interested and not just being a critic. try to find out from the Ministry of Agriculture
This is great news.
Thanks to LPM’s visionary leadership for initiating these farm blocks in all the provinces. This is the way to go if we are seroius about economic diversification. We are currently concentrating on the mines again just because copper prices have been good and when things go wrong again we start talking about agriculture as the driving engine for economic development.