AGRO SURE PANACEA

ZAMBIA should transform agriculture into the lifeblood of the economy alongside manufacturing, energy and tourism.

It is time to fast-track economic diversification, which has been a sing-song for decades, with attractive resolutions gathering dust on shelves.

Therefore, Government and the private sector must join hands and set in motion practical steps towards redeeming this critical sector.

Firstly, Government must immediately review FISP immediately because it has loopholes through which some civil servants and fake agro cooperatives have been laundering state resources.

It will also be prudent to sufficiently finance extension services and the crop diversification initiative; change in the cropping pattern must start now.

Poultry, livestock and fisheries are begging for support in a systematic and sustainable manner.

However maize growing should not be abandoned, but must be grown on a sustainable basis, being the staple food of the country.

Agro diversification must be buttressed by a proper market linkage model, encompassing small-scale producers in cooperatives, firms particularly in the manufacturing sector and the export market.

Evidently, small-scale farmers remain stuck with their produce due to lack of market and this has presented a huge challenge that tends to discourage productivity.

In Chembe, Mongu and Chama, for example, farmers have been churning out stacks of rice, but lack a reliable market.

Similarly, farmers in Milenge have been complaining about the lack of market as their cassava goes to waste after toiling months-on-end. Zambian Breweries alone cannot haul the overwhelming supply.

In Mbala and Senga, farmers have been tiling the land and growing beans for a long time and such produce needs a reliable market locally and across the border.

Zambia must emphasise sustainable agriculture because it guarantees food security, can create jobs and boost export earnings.

Agriculture also feeds into the manufacturing sector, thus promoting value addition.

Another aspect worth digesting is the imperative need to employ mechanisation so that small-scale famers can have proper equipment to quickly assist them graduate into commercial growers.

Government should forge links with private sector players that are offering loans for equipment and inputs for small-scale farmers.

On such entity is Schweizer Agriculture, a Zambian firm which will roll out 5, 000 digital banking booths over the next five years! This is aimed at boosting financial inclusion and crop production for rural farmers.

The banking booths will initially be rolled out in five of Zambia’s 10 provinces, namely Eastern, Western, Copperbelt, Central and North-Western.

Zambia should nurture this initiative which will gradually transition small-scale farmers into emerging farmers of five hectares to 30 hectares farming businesses. Farmers will be provided with low cost handheld tractors.

This is a lucrative programme in which eligible farmers will have pre-loaded cards with points that can be redeemed at specified agro hubs for seeds, fertilisers and agro chemicals.

Zambia needs more of such initiatives so that the agriculture sector can grow and become the country’s life-blood.

Reliance on copper mining is risky as the mineral is a wasting asset while prices fluctuate and could ebb to the lowest point.