Farming inputs distribution starts Oct 15
GOVERNMENT has announced that the distribution of the 2017/2018 farming inputs will start by October 15, 2017 in order for farmers to prepare adequately, Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya has announced.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Specialised Technical Committee STC on agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday, Ms Siliya said government had put in place mechanisms to ensure that the challenges faced last year in distribution of funds were addressed.
Ms Siliya said 200 billion kwacha had been set aside this year for the 2017/2018 farming season.
She urged Zambians to take agriculture as a business and not only grow food for their household consumption.
Ms Siliya said government had this year devised a mechanism to separate vulnerable farmers from those who are in farming strictly for business.
She said her ministry has recommended vulnerable farmers to the ministry of Community Development for assistance.
“The e-voucher programme is a project that government put in place to ensure timely and effective distribution of resources to farmers and government was eager to grow the agriculture sector by supporting irrigation and mechanization. Therefore, government has since constructed three water harvesting sites in order to capture rain water, adding that through irrigation, crop production could be enhanced,” said Ms Siliya.
The Minister also said government was committed to ensuring that there was improved mechanism in farming as opposed to the use of the hole. Government was therefore taking the AU decision on relegating the hole to the museum seriously and was committed to ensuring that rural areas were empowered with tillers.
Ms Siliya said the governments will in 2018 use the $40 million loan from EXIM bank of India purely for mechanisation in agriculture and irrigation farming. And on the STC meeting, Ms Siliya said Africa had realised the need to support agriculture because it had the potential to create jobs and wealth. She said in Zambia, agriculture was the main stay of the economy and measures had been put in place to grow the sector, adding that declarations such as the Malabo declaration that demands that each country’s budget targets 10 percent towards the agriculture sector must be supported.
She however said Zambia had already made tremendous progress as the agriculture sector’s budget kept growing every year.