Government has announced that out-grower farming schemes in farming blocks would be opened in all the nine provinces in the country in order to boost agriculture activities and enhance food security .
Agriculture and Co-operatives Deputy Minister Daniel Kalenga said government has since embarked on an exercise to put up infrastructure in the farming blocks such as good roads, electricity, water for irrigation which small scale, medium and large scale farmers can utilize to enhance crop production.
Mr. Kalenga said the agricultural sector which will further be promoted through crop diversification in the farming blocks has the ability to contribute to poverty reduction in the country.
The Deputy Minister announced this in Kanakatapa area in Chongwe district yesterday when he officiated at the 32nd Lusaka Provincial and Agricultural Show whose theme is Growth and Diversity through Credit and Finance.
He reiterated government’s committed to supplying subsidized agro inputs to ensuring that vulnerable but viable farmers are supported as they are key players in promoting food security at household, community and national levels.
Mr. Kalenga also disclosed that government has commenced a country-wide construction and rehabilitation of fish ponds .
He added government in collaboration with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has approved a K664 million for the transformation of Kaunga Rural Development Project based in Luangwa district into a Farmer Training Centre .
And speaking earlier, Lusaka Provincial and Agricultural Show Chairperson, Bernadette Simbwalanga appealed to government to revive the Lima and Co-operative banks where farmers could access soft loans through credit facilities.
Mrs. Simbwalanga further commended government for engaging the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in the purchase of agriculture produce.
She has however urged farmers in the country to strive to add value to their crops if they are to compete favourably on the international market.
Meanwhile, chief Mumena of the Kaonde people in Solwezi district has implored government to promote mechanized methods of farming among small scale farmers in Zambian in order to increase food production.
Chief Mumena observed that the current farming methods among many small scale and peasant farmers were not effective enough to address food shortages in the country.
The Chief said Zambian farmers needed to increase food production so as to cushion the negative impact of the looming hike in food prices.
He told ZANIS in an interview that government should therefore partner with traditional leaders in finding means of averting the looming food shortages in the world.
The traditional leader has since urged other chiefs to partner with government in rolling out modern means of food production.
He further called upon his subjects to keep enough food for their domestic consumption.
In 2006, Mwanawasa experienced a mild stroke.[7]
While in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for an African Union summit, Mwanawasa was hospitalized due to a stroke on June 29, 2008. On July 1, he was flown to France for further treatment.[7][8] The head of the Egyptian hospital to which Mwanawasa was taken said that the doctors there had stopped the brain hemorrhage and that he was in a semi-comatose state.[8] Vice-President Banda said that his condition was stable, and Minister of Information Mike Mulongoti noted that Mwanawasa had previously suffered from hypertension; Mulongoti also stressed that Mwanawasa was a “very hard working man” and said that this may have been a factor.[9]
Can a comatose president make decisions? Two weeks without a leader? Zambia must be a joke of nation. A country that struggles to meet a 4% growth rate can afford to delay making decisions for two weeks waiting for a comatose person to tell them what to do! Strange
Zambia President’s Health Better
Lusaka, Jul 13 (Prensa Latina) Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa got better although he is still in Mercy Parisian military hospital, reported Sunday Vice President Rupiah Banda.
The recent medical report noted that doctors in charged of Mawanawasa feel satisfied with the patient’s revival.
Mawanawasa had suffered a concussion during his participation in the African Union Summit in Sharn el Sheik in Egypt.
For that reason he was urgently moved to Paris medical facility where he was operated on to make him breathe easier. ef abo arc
Very encouraging indeed! This is the time for Zambia to take advantage of the fair trade system now dominating trade in the west.I have noticed an increase in agric products now flooding the UK supermarkets.Tesco one of the leading giant supermarket is pulling out of trading with Zim completely meaning that they will have to source goods from other places like Zambia.
I am not an Agric expert but this idea of putting up Farming blocks in each province is much welcome.
Zambia has great potential and I feel given the right investment and expertise it can emerge as not only a bread basket for the entire southern african region but also as a major agric exporting nation.
How about commercialising potatoes,legumes, pineapples etc in the NW province;cassava,rice,nuts in the Western;rice,fish,sugarcane,maize,groundnuts in Luapula;Mbala is known for it temperate like climate and can produce citrus fruits grapes apples etc.
My fellow Zambian’s let’s face it that our population will continue to grow and so is the food consumption. The programs being put up or revived are not new. UNIP had these programs in place but we chose NOT to support them then. I don’t know what went wrong. Probably we got blinded by the good living we had at the time. Now that realzation is making us think wisely, we MUST render support to our government and ensure that we succeed in food production. What it means is that we all MUST be accountable, simply put, no stealing of money or misappropriating of funds. If you witness a wrong being done with intent to sabotage the program, report it.
zambians wake up!this is not farming this is child labour.
CHILUBA IS THE WORST THING THAT EVEQ HAPPENED TO ZAMBIA! WHY DID HE DISCONTINUE THE PROVINCIAL AGRO PLANS KK HAD?
This is a very good project! Its more profitable than persueing corruption suspects!
Point of correction “#7 Confused”. Your title says much and indeed you are confused. If you look at subsistence farming which some of us have practiced, it involves young people tilling the land. In your way of thinking it is child labor. Say that to a parent that has to see to it that there’s food on the table everyday. I am sure they will have you sorted out for saying so. If you have an immediate way of creating employment for the young who are roaming the streets or not going to school, spell it out so that we can have it deliberated and implemented.
Opening up farming blocks alone is not enough, Govt needs to identify serious farmers who can work hard and service fertilizer loans, FRA has lost millions of Kwacha to con men who act as peasant farmers, and to lazy villagers who sell the inputs and later line up for relief food. Work attitude in many rural areas is very bad, theres need for agricultural and social education for the project to succeed.
Here we go again. Let’s hope there will be no cry about insufficient manpower to monitor the projects. We have a lot of graduates from NRDC and other Agriculture Research Centers who are doing nothing. Let’s have them mobilized, offered employment, and provide them with the tools with which to monitor the programs. Those spearheading these programs MUST immediately advertise in the national papers for for Agriculture Officers. Seriousness must be demonstarted, we should not just talk or generate press releases to impress. Go Zambia.
Let us start something important .I have just read THE POST for TOMORROW and I see Prof Clive but he has failed to answer a lot of questions as to how is he going to bring our country up and what his plans are. He is not telling us how but keeps on telling what he want people of ZAMBIA to do in other words he has nothing like other leaders like the sort bastered
2 Judge Chirwe what is he talking about just a few days ago some one put his name also on the list of MUSA of MUSA BAKERY so what is he talking about
Sunday Post headline.
Get down to work, Chirwa urges Govt. Stop mourning over Levy’s illness.
I say AMEN to that, its about time, work must go on. We can still pray for him, God hears even silent prayers in your offices. Move over Katele with your Laptop. I say Chirwa for next Presido.
#14 sorry i meant Monday Post
this is a great idea. let us all get on board en support our government achieve this goal. we can do it. one zambia one nation
Agri sector will remain a sorry site as long as we do n’t have displined leaders. worse still if we continue to vote for thungs and thiefs to be our leaders.
Our leaders get alot of fertiser from FRA and they do not pay back. the best was to use the system KK admin used. the small scale farmers had where to sell there produce. now it is very difficult for them to market their crops. and these are the people who provide 75%-80% of the maize in Zambia.
I agree with # 7.The picture above is enough proof of big time CHILD LABOR.Those poor kids must be in school and not picking cotton.Am ashamed to be Zambian.Remember the NY times article of child labor in “Zambian mines”( Stone crashing in Lusaka.)
This is long over due. What has GRZ been thinking for well of 43 years now? Let’s see some action here and not just the usual talk
I choose to disagree with #7 & 19. You can’t say children working on family farms constitute child labor. I grew up working on our family farm with my brothers and sisters and we still went to school. It helped us to be responsible and productive citizens later in life. It becomes bad when young people become laborers and stop going to school.This can be regulated by appropriate authorities. Am not ashamed to be Zambian like#19,am proud and am dying to go back home.
Then die and go back.
#21. My friend, don’t be myopic. You can even see for yourself children working instead of being at school but u still insist that its not child labour. Children are supposed to be at school while their parents are supposed to be working. So lets stop this.
Wats dis wat z da govt sayin..u wuld plz tell us da NEWS bout our president….I think dis pipo r up to smthin..how z LPM?
Govt plz stop child labour.. Tel TETA en othas to do dat job..not da children..
In Zambia we just talk without action. So this Kalenga chap has just said this for the sake of appearing in the news paper and thats the end. Lets be serious and do what we preach about. We don’t want just talking. Here were I am based, I have never heard of a minister saying we shall do this and that. What they say is we have done this and that. Nomba ifwe everytime we push things to the future. We want immediate action.
Easy said than done! we who Zambian history very well we know farm blocks exist already in the country. But the lack of support from GRZ and misuse of these pieces of land killed this good agriculture scheme which used to feed the nation. For the heading would have made sense if the Deputy had said GRZ want to or will increase farm blocks and improve the argriculture methods through irrigation to enable winter maize growing so that hunger can be avert and the plus can be exported to other countries who dont have enough. I heard that Zambia is no longer a landlocked country but a land linked country. This is fine that means we are the core of the southern Africa region so we can stir developm
ctd.. ment in the southern hemipshere.
# 21. I highly respect your opinion.But just because your endured and survived child labor does not make it right.How many of your siblings are in china studying with you now?
#21.
when is cotton harvested in Zed? Isn’t during school season? I stand to be corrected.
Hope GRZ sticks to this plan coz of late ever since copper prices started doing well they seem to have forgotten that copper was a wasting asset. I mean, where is the winter maize project? it hasn’t been talked about in years now. GRZ should set its priorities right,think,plan & implement with consultations & please explain what happened to the winter maize project,coz there was equipment bought,GRZ spent billions paying some selected farmers but have they delivered? If not, then we need to recover those monies & use it in these farming blocks.
In my view, the government should do everything in the background and just tell us what they have done other than raising people’s expectations and in the end they fail to do a single thing. What I don’t want to hear is ” the government is commited to …, “the govenment will increase ….”, ” by 2020 the government will ….”. That is not a good language. Why can’t we do things now? It puzzles me sometimes why our leaders can’t do things immediately.
#29 I respect your opinion too, I agree child labor is there in Zambia in areas of production and I don’t condone it. But the Zambian farming system in rural and semi urban areas is mainly substance farming, whereby families depend on their small farm for food and sell off the rest for extra income. They use family labor, Children will help parents in fields after school, weekends and holidays. Its been like that and you can’t change it. Many schools also have compulsory agric production units and these have been found to be of benefit to students. Am not talking about children working on farms for a living, that is child labor.
Why cant the Ministry of lands provide a data base via Public media or web of all land available. Anyone interested will then be able to apply for whichever land best suited for his interest. GRZ shoud simply provide the guide lines for the land use. The absence of such a data base to the Public is negative to Agriculture development.
#21 you are right.For all of you who just wantto talk about school- I used to go to school Monday to Friday and work Saturdays on the farm. During the holidays, i used to work Monday to Thursday. Let’s be realist, working on your fathers farm is not child labour.
Chiluba killed farm blocks and the good KK policies on agric which made some of us be what we are today.
Farming blocks aught to be considered as are residential plots in municipalities. The sooner that GRZ formalises the process of obtaining this land the better, with the obvious involvement of the chiefs in the various regions. The current scenario is that most agriculture land for subsistence farming is obtained wholly through the local chiefs. This is the chief cause of inadquate participation by the citizens because of unguaranteed ownership. The GRZ must work hand in hand with the Traditional Authority on this score to have some formal and guaranteed lease or ownership arrangement.
Good ideal of farminig and empowering people do diversify type of crops to grown, as i serously contemplete of going into farming but my qestion to any one who could help is how to by land say in luapula near chembe bidge along the the river.that info would be much welcome.Peace brothers.
#7 and #19 think logically.the ideas are excellent and should be supported.think about solutions to prevent child labour,than thinking about fears.infact at this time we should not have been talking about those issues but making our own agricultural equipments.realistically Zambia has not moved atall its always three steps forward,three steps backward.where i grew-up on the copperbelt st josephs, kalulushi.in the late seventies such projects where there but after my 26 year out,i was not impressed even with kalulushi town itself.lastly in Zed the problem is some people just want to be negative for no reason.no wonder politicians take advantage of you.
#23 Children can still work on family farms during Holodays. the fact that the picture above shows children doese not mean children dont go to school. Some of us who went to schools in the villages went to work on family fields but still managed to go to school. So children can go to school when it is school time but can still work on farms when its not
#8 i think you are the children who have just grwon up in the 90’s because if you were there in the 80’s you cant call Chiluba the worst thing that happened to Zambia. Chiluba might have made mistakes but i can tell you that when Kaunda was leaving in 1991 everyone thought he was a demon because we really suffered. But Chiluba brought food in the shops, raods were repaired, it nows takes a few hours to travel to Kitwe were it took more than a day in Kaunda, please check the history. Of course Chiluba was bad with Agriculture!!
#33 and#5, you are right in your explanations,i was once a child,helped my family during weekends school agric productions,to those who are saying that is child labour,we also dont encourage it but may be we should be more specific to the way we explain it.
#39. At least I can proved that there is child labour. Now I want you to proove that children go to school. Mind you this is not a holiday, holidays will be in August.
Can someone verify at the ministry of lands and ministry of Agric what the the minister was saying in his speech? Are these plans on the drawing board and do the provincial agric coordinators working on these projects? There have been too many of such speeches. I hope he was not just spinning the yarn as I am inclined to suspect.
#43. You are very right my brother. These so called ministers are just fond reading speeches written for them by junior officers without even knowing or having an idea of what they are saying. I am sure the minister was just reading the speech without any basis. So many ministers have said different things which they intend to do but none has been done so far. So this is not different from the other speeches. Bena ngabafuma mu news paper or pa TV ninshi yapasa, they even record the news or send the news paper ku mushi.
Good project but, why child labour in the picture?
If thats the expected workforce, then its a sham.
#14, you brought up a critical component in this discussion and that is a market for the farm products. You can set up as many farming blocks and subsidize as much fertilizer as you want, but it is all a waste if the farmers do not have a way in which to fairly and profitably off load it. That is one of the major problems experienced by farmers. My parents stopped farming maize when it became impossible to sell the maize at a profit. Mind you,in the same year, Mwanawasa’s maize was given top priority and purchased by millers at a high price. Once this was done, the price was significantly reduced, giving other farmers in Lusaka no option but to sell at a loss or, if lucky, to break even.
” Mind you,in the same year, Mwanawasa’s maize was given top priority and purchased by millers at a high price. Once this was done, the price was significantly reduced, giving other farmers in Lusaka no option but to sell at a loss or, if lucky, to break even. ”
If you have proof of that, that’s proof of corruption. (Otherwise, it’s slander.) But I wouldnt’ be surprised, the way the MMD has been run.
Seriously, if you can prove that, you can take Mwanawasa to court. Maybe something the other parties are interested in?