apanese Ambassador to Zambia, Hideto Mitamura, has challenged farmers to take advantage of the vast water endowments in Luapula province and engage into large scale rice growing.
And Luapula provincial Minister, Crispin Musosha, has said despite the province possessing abundant water resources, most of the people lacked clean and safe drinking water.
Ambassador Mitamura said Luapula province had the potential of being a major food producer in Zambia if its water resource endowment were harnessed fully.
He noted that there were many rivers and swamps that could be utilised for rice growing activities, which could effectively contribute to the country’s economy and food security.
Mr. Mitamura, who is in Luapula province on a conducted tour of Japanese funded development projects, said this when he paid a courtesy call on Luapula province Minister Crispin Musosha today.
He said the people of Luapula province needed to take advantage of the fertile land and vast water resources to venture into rice growing by improving their agricultural activities.
”With the vast water resources that we have seen here, Luapula may just adopt a different kind of agriculture such as rice growing which is predominantly done in such areas in Japan,” Mitamura said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mitamura has commended the Zambia government for its good agriculture policy.
He said that the stance taken by government to improve the agriculture sector would greatly steer national food security and development.
The Japanese government is currently implementing two major projects in Luapula under Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and participatory Village Development (PaViDIA).
The two projects are aimed at ground water development in rural areas which will see the sinking of 500 bores in Luapula and improved rural agricultural techniques for small scale farmers.
And Luapula province Minister, Crispin Musosha, has disclosed that only 17 per cent of the population in Luapula had access to safe and clear drinking water.
Mr. Musosha said according to the current living conditions monitoring survey report, out of the total population in the province, 49 per cent drunk water from unprotected wells whilst 36 percent drunk directly from the rivers.
He said the underground water development project by JICA would contribute to the rural water supply and sanitation in the province.
He commended Japan for both the JICA and Pavidia projects in Luapula province, adding that the projects would contribute to the achieving of Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) by the year 2015 in the province.
ZANIS/DN/SC/KSH/ENDS
I’ve been to Luapula and the ambassador is right. There is a lot water that can be used to our advantage. Fishing is not the only thing that can be done with Luapula water. Luapula people can really make themselves a good living. I hope someone takes up the challenge.
#1 Why don’t you take up the challenge since you have seen opportunities first hand?
#2 Anonymous
Good question!!!!
First it was the chinese. Now, its the japanese, though in a different way. During the construction of tuta road the chinese observed that the luapula plains (grasslands) can grow wheat, rice, etc, to feed the whole world. They approached kaunda to permit them set up a grain belt. Fortunately/unfortunately, KK, refused on grounds of the area being a game reserve, etc. Now, its the japanese who have seen that same potential. Luapula province has abandant resources. In fact in some places minerals are being illegally mined. Probably, without govt support, the pipo are just too poor to start up such ventures. Correct me.
Abena #2 Annonymous.. Niya how..iwe mambala.. the dude in #1
Abantu Baya is jus giving his honest opinion..how do you make
such an un-necessary comment..obviously the guy can not just get
up an start growing rice or whatever it is the Japanese are
going on about..i wish kuti nakutoba amapi swine…thats why pa
zed there is no decent infrastructure all round because all we
think is stuff happens in Lusaka alone.. look at all the western
countries every state they have got is well
developed simply because of tapping raw natural resources and i
can guarantee you that every province in Zed has the potential
to be bigger than Lusaka and Zed can be a better place to live
I’m coming to invert in Zambia after I see the 2011results, currently the nation moves beautifully but I still believe that the upcoming elections are “make or break” elections. The most important since our independence.
may god bless Zambia.
#5 Iwe ci muntu osacita double space you are wasting our time! Fool
#7…watch out mwaiche i know you personally
zambians always too argueing but little action. grow up you two.
lets forge ahead
I have traversed this land here spoken about,i remember buying rice grown on this land its nice with big grains .I felt so sorry that though the efforts of people the government can not help them.Others come and see how portential our land is and in wonder ask themselves why do this people have to beg,why do these people have to suffer,why should they have to carry enough debts on their shoulders when they have every thing.Fertile land,minerals,enough water good vegetation and all that a good land must have but and yet they depend on those who do not have what they have.What criples their minds?What
makes them less men than others or do they have any ego?Is it their fate?
don´t show off how stupid you are on here,this ain´t a complement.
don´t ifyo………..
Bwafya!
Can the Govenment kindly set up deliberate policies to ensure the greater part of the long chain of discoveries and recommendations are realised, lest they end up beeing dreams?
It is a good rice project but directed to wrong people. Bembas generally are not serious farmers. Look at people in western province, they have mongu rice, but i have never heard of luapula rice despite having good conditions for rice growing there simply because these guys are not a farming community. Take trading activities to luapula and you will see how productive they can be.
#10. Ned
It’s because the attitude in Zambia is “govt is supposed to start everything” businesses, mines, farms, etc everything. Thats the attitude in Zambia.
This is a shameful revelation. What is LPM’s GRZ doing in agriculture? Is there no agricultural planning unit at the ministry of Agriculture to have pre-emptied the Japanese Ambassador’s ideas?
This is why Zambia will not develop there are too many Kaponya’s at the top starting with LPM and his glory boys.
Crazy_Zambian, You have no experience on how nations have developed. The government in most developed nations has always kick-started projects where citizens did not have the means in order to achieve the intended levels of service delivery without risking lives or suffer escaling costs due to time delays.
In any country that I have been to, governments are always looking out for things that would make their countries better by investing into those activities that would result in increased economic performance, increased business activities by the ordinary citizens who in ordinary circumstances would not afford the large original investment.
You need to travel far and wide to see!
#17. Zambian Ninja
Govt has fixed up the road to Luapula province and put that bridge which LPM wants to name after himself. You have no excuse as of now. The road is there, no need to invest in artificial irrigation since there is plenty of water in Luapula.
Govt has done its job. It has set up the road that leads to the place of market (copperbelt, Katanga DRC).
Also, the Japanese Ambassador never said “GOVT”, he said “FARMERS” meaning anyone who wants to be a farmer. If govt invests in this land by giving the land to whites or chinese, you cry foul but here is an opportunity for you to empower yourself and you are waiting for govt to physically start the farm.
OK.
A workmate and medical doctor from Egypt was once amazed when he came to Kitwe. He told me he wished it was Egypt. He observed that you could throw a seed anywhere and it would grow! Luapula, indeed is a sleeping giant. People however, are very poor. School curriculum should be revamped to include preparation towards hands-on careers and business as opposed to the current education which prepares us mostly for white collar jobs. You cannot venture into large scale farming without the know-how of how to access loans. Most successful farmers anywhere in the world had obtained loans. Farming using a hoe and axe can be daunting.
#18, with due respect to your suggestion, farming (subsistence), with no machinery and finances is very hard. It is like asking someone to lift himself by his bootstraps. Of course, few can make it but it is very, very hard. This is where govt comes in. The whites or Chinese you mentioned will not till the land with hoes, or would they? In addition, it has taken 44 years to build the bridge. We need accessory roads also constructed and tarred that is how farming can be boosted not only in Luapula but all provinces.
#20. Chamboli-Wusakile
I understand that the average citizen in Luapula cannot access loans and what not.
But how about the urban dweller in Lusaka and the Copperbelt. Or the Zambians in the Diaspora.
This is what i meant. There are Zambians who can access loans and start Farming.
I read a post on the internet once on White farmers from Zimbabwe who relocated to Zambia and one of his workers said “I will keep my pennies and go study agriculture. From there, i will start my own farm. I will not work here forever but i will start my own farm one day”.
And also the same bank that was giving loans to white farmers in Zambia also said it would give loans to local Zambian citizens.
Initially, i find it difficult to understand why Zambia is still hungry. Every province in Zambia has something to offer yet we still need food aid.
Eastern province is very ideal for growth of Coffee and Cotton. Independent sources say Eastern province can have a thriving coffee and cotton industry.
Western province has the Barotse flood plains which can be used to grow rice. I once heard a story that some Chinese people wanted to grow rice in that they would have grown enough rice to feed the whole of Africa. They where denied the opportunity to do so.
cont…
Southern Province is where all the Namibian and Zimbabwean White farmers are running to. Some source on the internet says that he grew more tobacco, wheat and chillies in Zambia than he ever did in Zimbabwe and what he achieved in Zambia in 1 and a half years would have taken 15 years in Zimbabwe. He now employs 230 workers.
North-Western i dont know much about but i hear there are maize projects going on in that province. Thats tells me that the soil is ideal for Maize growing. Also, North Western Province has copper in Solwezi and is estimated to have oil and natural gas in Chavuma.
Copperbelt Province speaks for itself.
Central Province i do not know about but it obviously has something that can be of use to Zambia.
Lusaka is the financial and industrial hub of the country. Also, we all know of the farms in Makeni, Lusaka West and Chongwe.
As for the Northern Province, i have no idea about it. But it seems to also have some lakes and rivers so it can also be good for agriculture.
Luapula i dont have to talk much on it.
cont…
Zambia as a country can has the potential to sustain itself in terms of food security. In fact with these conditions, Zambia should never speak of hunger.
It is not only in Agriculture where we are supposed to be strong but even in Mining. We have vast amounts of Copper.
We have Nickel.
We have Uranium.
We have Zinc and Lead in Central Province.
We have Coal in Southern Province.
We have Emeralds.
And yet we are so poor. What is happening.
cont…
Tourism we should go uncontested.
Our national parks have more species of Animals than Kenya.
The Victoria falls is better on the Zambian side.
We have other beautiful waterfalls and other beautiful sites. We should be the best in the tourism sector in Zambia. But why????
Many people who have traveled to Zambia just loved it. They are saying they want to go back. The thing they loved the most where the people who they say are the most friendly, good and loving people they have ever met.
cont…
Though Zambia’s education system is underfunded and weak at the moment. We have one of the best education curriculum’s in Southern Africa.
You can see this from the likes of Pragmatist who uses some of the most complex grammatic sentences i have ever heard.
Why is Zambia still so poor.
GOD HELP US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only a fool is thirsty in the abundance of water.
That sums up your country and its people.
You have emeralds in Lamba land that made people from Senegal rich and the Lambas remained poor.Pakaya iloba…!!!Do I need to state more?
# 27 .There you go again!!! Ending by calling for devine intervention(GOD HELP US…you cry loudly.And yet God blessed you with more resources than Japan and Botswana)typical of Zedians.
THINK MAN!!!!!!!damn ,spare us your noise.
You don’t need a loan to grow rice to feed your large family in Luapula.
Crazy_Zambian,
The foreigners running to all parts of Zambia are NOT USING their own funds, but borrowed money from institutions where they come from. Zambia’s DBZ is such a poor organization in terms of facilitating business to Zambians that no average Zambian goes there. All the main commercial banks in Zambia are completely anti-Zambians young business man due to their being brain washed that only foreigners are worthy supporting in business. So the typical Zambian has no resources to venture in anything reasonable. All the ex-Zim white farmers have had access to funds from Standard Chartered Bank because the UK Government made arrangements for them to gain the financial muscle as ..
..they left Zim with just a shirt on their backs. Some were lucky to leave with a car or two.
This is why I join those that condemn the MMD. This party, MMD, has no vision for a better Zambia. You cannot develop any nation in a sustainable manner when all key operators in the development sectors are imported investors (termed FDI) while the vast majority of all citizens are wallowing with their needs of all types unmet! This Government does not know that all Chinese companies coming to Zambia are parts of huge parastatal firms and are funded by the Chinese government. It is therefore sick for the MMD to keep on insulting the idea of governments getting involved in business. China is a typical example where State business is used to grow small businesses elsewhere.
Can’t you people understand that in economics, there is always need to kickstart an activity and milk it down stream for its higher impact?
Only if the japanese can remove crocodiles, then rice farming could easier in these swamps. Otherwise it the crocodiles that will benefit but having meet on their tables every day
I know that South Africa’s and Botswana’s banks were at one time working exactly like the way Zambians financial institutions do today. They would give preferential treatment to foreigners and turn down citizens.
Following changes in government policy and focus, all these institutions place their citizens way on top of anything else. As a result, one sees real development in all these countries. Zambia unfortunately has goons for leaders whose concept of a thriving nation are as distant as the planet Pluto! They say that we will attain our MDGs in 2035, when we could do this within 15 years!!
#26 They like prosititutes cause in Zed they are cheap and yakumbuyo is cheap too that is why all these old and wrinkeld white pi…gs flock to Zed
Right now, I am concerned about NCZ.
It is clear to me that the MMD are scared of anything beyond their legal degrees. They are afraid of things they do not understand such as our Fertilizer Plant. It is too technical for their feeble minds and getting rid of this plant is to them the way out so that they can start importing fertilizer on a grand scale.In fact, I would be surprised if LPM himself was not into some fertilizer deals at one point or another, and he has fert the huge financial benefit for importing the it.
It is therefore with this environment that our future leaders are being tied to the greed of these guys in office today. Their decision options to make the nation a better place for their children and their children’s children is now being whittled down by the MMD. Zambia is land locked and the worst thing one can do is to narrow the options available for our inputs in all our industrial activities including agriculture. I feel for the citizens that are being shuffled from one deadend option to a no win scenario by the MMD.
#15 observe the comments of #17,19,28,and 30 they are so profund and make so much sense it is a priviledge to have such minds one day God will help them to do good for their nation.The government in any nation must be the driving force behind development,the government must organise its people and utilise every labour no one must be doing nothing every human being must be useful.There is so much waisted labour in Zambia so many are doing nothing.If so many were brought together even those without education but under the specialist much can be achieved.but then i will just borrow the words of # 28 that only a full is thirsty in the abundance of water.But for how long are we going to be fulls?
Comment:impressive,lets take zambia to another level.