opening of the first joint Pan-African Grain Legume and World Cowpea
Conference currently being held at AVANI Victoria Falls Hotel. Picture
by Jeffrey Oliver
FARMERS must be innovative and invest in appropriate farming technologies that will enable them to feed the growing global population, Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda has said.
Mr Lubinda said agriculture could not continue as business as usual and hence there was need for farmers to implement solutions and innovations that adapt to climate change inducements and adverse weather conditions.
He said there was need for farmers to change the way they were farming in view of various challenges affecting the sector.
Mr Lubinda was speaking in Livingstone at AVANI Victoria Falls Hotel on Tuesday night when he officially opened the World Farmers Organisation (WFO) General Assembly which is being held under the theme ‘Partnerships for Growth’.
The three-day conference, which has attracted delegates from the global farming community, is being hosted by Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU).
President Edgar Lungu is today (Friday) expected to open the first-ever WFO General Assembly to be hosted in Zambia.
“If we are to feed an ever increasing population from reducing resources, we need to be more innovative.
“The population of the world is growing drastically and yet the resources we need to feed the people are diminishing,” he said.
He urged farmers to embrace Information and Communications (ICT) advancements as continued reliance on outdated technologies could not lead to increased productivity and growth.
He said the adoption of appropriate mechanisation and husbandly technologies, e-payments and other e-services was what would unlock the growth potential of agriculture.
“This should be further enhanced by the promotion of appropriate irrigation and agro processing and value addition technologies across the food value chains.
“If we are to end hunger worldwide in the next 15 years, we certainly need to ensure that farmers partners with all other players in the world economy and farmers should be position where they belong at the centre of our global economy,” Mr Lubinda said.
He said the 2016 WFO General Assembly came at a time when Zambia was making significant milestones in achieving an all-inclusive private led private sector agricultural development.
Mr Lubinda said the Zambian agriculture was enjoying positive effects of good Government policies and enhanced private sector participation investments and ever improving industry stakeholders’ consultations and collaborations.
“With increasing climate change effects, depleting water resources and energy deficits, our regions and world is facing with the challenge of feeding our growing population.
“Our Zambian farmers are not spared from this situation as they continue battling a number of challenges such as limited access to finance, fairly priced production inputs, poor access to competitive commodity markets, limited processing of value addition prospects, high post-harvest losses, limited access to extension services and unfortunately climate change induced weather,” Mr Lubinda said.
Mr Lubinda noted that majority of the poor farmers in Africa were the actual producers of food and hence there was need for the WFO to seek ways of ensuring that the producers were well nourished.
He also said the Government of Zambia would this year provide inputs to small scale farmers using the electronic voucher system beyond the 241 that were provided inputs last year to between 600 and 2, 000 this year.
WFO president Evelyn Nguleka said the conference came at a time when the world was looking at coming up with strategic development goals to ensure that no stomach goes hungry.
Dr Nguleka, who is also ZNFU president, said it was a job of farmers to feed the global population.
“Let us make sure that farmers in our own areas and villages nobody should go to bed hungry.
“For us, this is an important event. Let’s go home remembering that we are partners in fighting poverty,” she said.
In a recorded message, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director General from Rome Mr Joze Graziano Da Silva expressed hope that the WFO General Assembly would be successful.
In another recorded, United Nations World Food Security (CFS) committee chairperson Amira Gornass said farmers were the backbone of food and nutrition security in terms of feeding the 793 million hungry people.
You must be ashamed of yourself for stealing our money. You have been accused of selling our maize at FRA and charging extra money for your pocket and can not ever have decency of giving a statement. If what Tayali said was not true why can you not deny it? For now you are guilty until proven innocent, I do not want to pretend that you are innocent until proven guilty. Even that Dr Nguleka is a thief, We want ZNFU union money back. ZNFU workers and farmers are suffering because donors have withheld their money. You shameless thieves.
On the one hand Lubinda says (generally) that farmers should invest in ‘appropriate farming technologies’. On the other, he says ‘Zambian farmers continue battling challenges including limited access to finance’. Where does government actually stand? – and high poverty levels continue, in spite of these ‘talk shops’ that proclaim that farmers hold the key to ending hunger.