118,305 smallholder farmers receive CSA training
ABOUT 118,305 smallholder farmers in Eastern Province are benefiting from a project aimed at upscaling climate smart agricultural practices.
10,755 farmers are lead farmers while 107,550 are benefiting indirectly as follower farmers.
Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project (ZIFLP) National Project Manager Dr Tasila Banda disclosed in an interview that promotion of climate smart agriculture in the region was part of efforts to improve local farmers’ productivity while at the same time increasing their resilience to climate change effects.
“In the first year we worked with 10,755 lead farmers, who through their farmer field schools, were able to give us very promising results…This year, we encouraged them to bring on board 10 follower farmers each; so, that expands the base for our farmers in the Eastern Province,” she said, “If a lead farmer chooses to recruit more than 10 follower farmers, we are happy for them because then it means more people are practicing climate smart agriculture.”
Dr Banda said the Eastern Province had not been spared from climate induced hazards such as droughts and dry spells as well as inadequate rainfall which had negatively affected farm productivity and contributed to declining crop yields.
She said it was against this backdrop that ZIFLP had partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture to upscale climate smart agriculture techniques in the region.
Samuel Mumba, a lead farmer of Mphangwe agricultural camp in Katete district, said farmers had, through ZIFLP, been taught good agronomic practices such as basin making and ripping for land preparation, best planting methods, as well as the importance of crop rotation, crop diversification and integration of agroforestry tree species. ZIFLP is a US$32.8 million worth Zambian Government initiative which is running in Eastern Province from 2017 to 2022 with support from the World Bank.
The project aims at providing support to rural communities in Eastern Province in order to allow them better manage resources of their landscapes, so as to reduce deforestation and unsustainable agriculture, enhance benefits they receive from forestry, agriculture and wildlife, as well as reduce their vulnerability to climate change.