Kafulafuta Member of Parliament (MP) George Mpombo has urged members of his constituency to diversify their agricultural ventures instead of depending on growing maize alone.
ZANIS reports that Mr. Mpombo said this during a public meeting at Munkulungwe basic school in his constituency yesterday.
Mr. Mpombo, who is also Minister of Defence, said diversifying farming activities would help people in the area to be self-reliant.
He explained that this year, people should not expect to receive food relief from outside Zambia because many regions in Africa and beyond were facing serious food shortages.
He advised people to prepare adequately for the imminent global shortage of food by farming assorted crops that they would depend on.
And speaking earlier, Munkulungwe ward Councillor, Brain Chisha, said the area needed a clinic, saying the nearest health centres were far away in Tag Argun and Kambowa area.
Mr. Chisha told the MP, who is on a current tour of his constituency, that there was need to improve the water supply system in the area, which is currently facing a serious water problem.
He said currently, communities of about 200 people were sharing one borehole.
Meanwhile, Munkulungwe basic school headmistress, Angela Mukuka, informed the minister that the school needed an additional K4 million to complete its electrification project.
Ms. Mukuka said the school had so far spent about K8.1 million on the exercise but needed additional funds to complete the project.
She bemoaned the high levels of vandalism at the school, which is currently running a vibrant banana project.
In another development, Mr. Mpombo has described the theft of the transformer at Kambowa as a major setback to government’s effort to develop rural areas in the country.
Mr. Mpombo wondered how a huge transformer could be brought down and carried without villagers noticing.
The visibly astonished and annoyed MP urged the people in the area to protect government property in the area.
And Masaiti District Commissioner, Joyce Nsamba, who is also in the Minister’s delegation, expressed disappointment at the theft of the transformer, saying it was a hindrance to government’s development vision.
Mrs. Nsamba said it was sad that some people had chosen to frustrate government’s efforts of development by stealing and vandalising equipment that were meant to benefit the public.
She further warned people in the areas against marrying off school going girls, adding that those that would be found practicing the vice would be prosecuted.
She also cautioned people in the area against excessive beer drinking, saying such activities would result in vices such as defilement and increased levels of HIV/AIDS.
Iwe Lechwe which maize do those villagers grow! They are typical chacoal burners. Your message should be ‘Villegers stop charcoal burning & start serious farming, *****s’.
#1. You have hit the nail on its Head. As long as there is market for these Charcoal Burners, they will continue being Lazy. It is easier to cut a few trees and make Charcoal. Wala…Zesco has even made things worse..Trees will continue to be depleted.