With over 60% of Zambians deriving their livelihood from agriculture, the UPND unveiled it as the chief pilot of their agenda in a quest toward growth and poverty reduction. With dilapidated agricultural support, inadequate extension service, natural disasters, droughts, floods, lack of finance and lack of agro- industries as some of the reasons the sector has remained under developed, a four-component plan has been brought forward to remedy the sector.
Initially, agricultural productivity falls below minimum hence failing to deliver profit, food security, create jobs and reduce poverty. This is a situation engineered by inefficient techniques and failed access to inputs. With hopes of becoming a regional basket, government’s intention is to facilitate the reduction of dependence on harmful drugs, ensuring affordable fertilizer and pesticides, establish agro-manufacturing and partnering with the private sector to ease access to funds and markets. “High productivity will generate income, self-employment and economic dependence” said Eugena Musaba, Northern Province Senior Agriculture Officer in Mbala. The government supported by World Vision Zambia will empower over 3000 Mbala bean farmers in Northern Province under this scheme.
Ensuring the provision of agricultural extension services are coupled with the appropriate technology central to the vision of the agrarian revolution. The government seeks an overhaul of extension policy and strategy, to different groups of farmers. They aim to revise training and research institutions as well as Increasing funding for extension services. The adoption of new technologies and agricultural techniques, which are being taught by extension staff and project operating partners will be critical, Mumbwa district coordinator Nicholas Mainza said this in a workshop that comprised of the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO) and Ministry of Agriculture on September 29, 2021.
As Farmers are heavily constrained to limited Market access owing to poor supply chains and lacking information and financing, a key focus area is on the efforts to link the farmers to upstream domestic and international markets to increase their return while cementing farmer clubs and cooperatives, developing an agro value chain, establishing an agrarian development bank, and targeting agro-business and farming as well as the launch of the national importance of unlocking agricultural investment for Zambia. “This follows similar initiatives in Malawi, signifying team Europe’s support for African agriculture” said Thomas Ostros, vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB). By improving access to long term financing, small holder farmers will benefit from the new 30 million initiative intended to accelerate agricultural investment. The initiative will improve productivity, upgrade agricultural status and support severe impacts of Covid-19 challenges. The financing scheme will be managed by Zanaco, and backed by the European Union and investment bank. This is the first recorded targeted support for agriculture in Zambia by the European Investment Bank, the world’s largest public bank.
Finally, the addition of the initiative of agri-business development which comprises adding value to the entire food chain. It requires rebranding agriculture as an attractive commercially valuable modern occupation prioritizing women and the youth along with enhancing the access to land for women and the youth, thereby improving access to capital both domestically and foreign. This would be implemented through supporting women and youth participation by increasing access to agricultural machinery, finances and facilitating credit expansion. Having in mind the unique role of small to medium enterprise in rescuing a deterioration economy. “The district has 53 saving groups and it’s amazing the stories that their members live off” said Soneni Kafwamba, who is Mulobezi District Marketing Development Officer, on 29 September 2021. The Government are increasing credit access to small holders’ farmers in Mulobezi. Strengthening Climate Resilience Agricultural Livelihoods in Agro-ecological Regions (SCRALA) introduced the saving initiative where farmers formed groups to save money and then loan out to members. Creditors then return the money with interest and then share the accumulated amount at the end of an agreed saving cycle. Farmers expressed how this opened their minds in financial literacy and encouraged them to embark on enterprises with the Ministry of Agriculture implementing partner, funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The various implementations are seen as the initial translation of the current regime’s solutions to the agricultural sector’s challenges, whose givers, recipients and on-lookers eyes are freshly gazing in quest for the agricultural sector’s scores in the new dawn.