Central Province Minister Ackimson Banda has said government will continue developing policies aimed at benefiting rural communities especially small scale farmers and business persons.
Mr. Banda said government was doing this in order to provide a platform for fighting and reducing poverty among the people through capacity building programmes.
Mr. Banda was speaking in a speech read on his behalf by Central Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Luke Mankapi when he officiated at training workshop for the Small Scale Industry Association of Zambia (SSIAZ) at ZANET lodge in Kabwe today.
Mr. Banda said the goal of strong private sector development emanates from the vision which aims at Zambia achieving a middle-income status by 2030 through a manufacturing led economy.
He said raw materials from agriculture should provide a basis for agro-industries development even among the people in rural areas.
He urged SSIAZ to source more funds to reach every farmer – peasant or commercial throughout central province so that the province could become the leading bread basket of the country.
Mr. Banda reminded the 26 participants drawn from within the province that agriculture, especially growing cassava, legumes and grains formed 67 percent of economic activities in Zambia.
The Minister told the participants that the province had abundant land and many farm resettlements blocks that had been planned and opened in some districts such as Serenje, Kapiri Mposhi, Mumbwa, Chibombo and Kabwe for anyone willing to go into farming.
Mr. Banda challenged SSIAZ to consider women when recruiting farmers to take part in growing cassava and other crops and also to put in place a deliberate marketing to ensure the cassava grown had a ready market.
‘Recruit more women and I also urge you to do research in cassava growing and processing. You should also engage the ministry of agriculture to be part of the project implementation programme in order to receive timely agronomic and technical advice in order to avoid diseases that went with cassava,’ he said.
He said government acknowledged and appreciated the financial and material support that the European Union Capacity Building for Private sector development (EUCBPSD) had given to SSIAZ to strengthen it to reach out to rural communities who were worst affected by poverty and unemployment.
He assured the EU that the provincial administration would help SSIAZ implement a programme that would be monitored for success.
And speaking at the same occasion, Central Province SSIAZ coordinator Charity Chimbuchimbu said due to the closure of the mine in Kabwe, the area became economically depressed with very low income and poor growth rate.
Mrs. Chimbuchimbu said it was against this background that new investment through programs coming from organizations such as SSIAZ would create an impetus for the participation of medium and small market enterprises (MSMEs) in the domestic economy.
She noted that the awareness and sensitisation meetings with the small scale farmers and members of the MSMEs would increase knowledge to access cheap and affordable finance from the rural finance programs created under citizens economic empowerment fund (CEEF).
She commended government for creating a conducive atmosphere for cooperating partners to invest in the country.
[ZANIS]
