SENIOR Chief Chikanta of Kalomo District in Southern Province says with the conservation farming technique adopted by Kansanshi Mining Plc, North-Western Province can adequately feed the entire southern African region.
Speaking when he attended a one-day workshop in conservation farming at Kansanshi Foundation Training Institute in Solwezi recently, Senior Chief Chikanta praised Kansanshi Mining Plc for introducing a farming method meant to ensure food security and to eradicate poverty in Zambia.
He noted that Kansanshi Mine management had realised the great need to diversify the country and region to a profitable farming system to accomplish the goal of agriculture being the driver of economic transformation from copper dependence in Africa.
Senior Chief Chikanta said conservation agriculture spearheaded by Kansanshi Mine in Solwezi had helped the province acquire tremendous potential to produce vast amounts of food to feed the entire southern African region.
“I wish other mines in Zambia could emulate Kansanshi in realising that mining alone can’t benefit the whole nation the way agriculture could do and that is why it has through its robust corporate social responsibility, improved the welfare of indigenous people linked to its community projects,” said Senior Chief Chikanta.
Kansanshi Mine has opted to use mining developments to spur agricultural development by investing in conservation farming rather than competing with agriculture for land.
Senior Chief Chikanta said Northwestern Province had favourable climatic conditions that could make it possible for the province to adequately feed the entire southern African region.
The Tonga traditional leader and his entourage are in Northwestern Province on a tour to formalise the relocation of farmers from Southern to North-Western Province with the consent of the Government and traditional leaders from both provinces.
“This visit is also meant to facilitate the exchange visits for an acquisition of knowledge to promote the integrated agriculture and lifestyles between the farming communities of Southern and North-Western provinces,” he added.
Senior Chief Chikanta took advantage of the warm welcome of his team to North-Western Province to invite chiefs and other stakeholders from the new Copperbelt Province to visit his province to have a complete picture of Southern Province in terms of animal husbandry and tourism.
Kansanshi Mining Plc has so far trained 36,000 conservation farmers since the inception of the programme in 2010, with over 7,000 farmers being supported by the company in terms of inputs and other logistics.
Kansanshi Mining Plc Corporate Social Responsibility manager Bruce Lewis disclosed that in the 2018/2019 farming season, 7,151 farmers received input support, of which 6,179 received maize inputs, 370 soya, 334 ground nuts, 118 sorghum and 150 vegetable inputs.
Mr Lewis explained that farmers who receive input support are also supported by weekly visits by field officers to guide them and that they achieve close to perfect crop yields.
“This demonstrates our push to diversify away from maize and other crops.
For the 2019 harvest our supported farmers harvested 5,250,000 Kg of maize,” he said.
At Kansanshi Foundation Training Institute, Senior Chief Chikanta and his entourage learnt conservation farming, green charcoal making, vegetable growing, poultry farming and village banking administration. – Courtesy of SUMA SYSTEMS.
Yes, Northwestern can feed the whole country but with a responsible government in place. Once you have a reckless government like it is now, Chief, your words will remain rhetoric. Economic fundamentals are too shaky that even with that initiative there is neither light at the end of the tunnel nor the tunnel itself. My head on the chopping board, if they remain in power and implement what you are saying. Kansanshi may try but the other party is something else