The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has described the 2008/2009 farming season as a success.
Speaking in an interview in Lusaka today FAO Country Representative Noureddin Mona said the agriculture sector is expected to grow by 5.7 percent as compared to the previous farming season which was at 1.9 percent.
Mr. Mona said the good harvest contributed to the economic growth which helped the country pull through during the period of economic crunch.
He appealed to the private sector to play a pivotal role in the development of the industry in order to enhance sustainable development.
Mr. Mona noted that the production of maize this year which had 26 percent growth was impressive, adding that it is the country’s staple food.
He has however called for diversification in the agricultural sector by developing the livestock and fisheries industry.
Mr. Mona said the key to livestock and fishery farming is to create disease free zones in areas that are affected by the vice.
He said has further called for the need to change our mindsets and change our dependency on Maize as a staple food, saying crops like cassava can be put to good use as well.
Mr. Mona has commended the government for improving the agriculture sector in the country through the farmer input support program (FISP).
He said this was attributed to government’s good agriculture policy and the distribution of farming inputs on time.
Government has increased the allocation to agriculture and livestock sectors from K1, 096 trillion in 2009 to K1, 139 trillion in the 2010 national budget.
ZANIS
All these are plus points for the government…and RB. The PACT better find another formula to convince the people of change.
Its puzzling how successive governments have mismanaged the agric-sector. With the amount of arable land and vast water resources that Zed has this should be taken as a normal annual outcome. This is a headline for 1968. But because of gross mismanagement from the colonial days through to the third republic we shall be celebrating what should be the obvious. With much reluctance and prayer for the a boom for the small scale Zambian farmer to catch up I give a feeble …”Hooray!”.
I think that the FAO representative has been paid by the MMD govt.