Government has challenged Zambians to rise to the challenge of growing more staple food with a view to answering to the challenges poised by the soaring food prices.
Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande says there is need for the Zambian people to actively engage themselves into serious farming in order to answer to the challenges of rising food prices and help the country to maintain its food security.
Mr. Pande was speaking when Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Country Representative Noreddin Mona paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Lusaka today.
He said the global soaring in food prices and other communities were the major challenges that the global world was experiencing and which needed concerted efforts from all stakeholders in addressing the challenges.
Meanwhile, Government has advised opposition political parties that are allegedly inciting people to demonstrate over the soaring food prices to re-dedicate their energies in encouraging people to grow more staple food in order to enhance food security in the country.
Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande says opposition political parties should not mislead people that government was contributing to the escalating prices of food commodities but instead encourage people to grow more staple food.
He said Zambia was endowed with a plenty arable land and water, hence the need for Zambians to take advantage and grow more food in a bid to enhance food security in the country.
Mr. Pande further advised opposition political parties to offer solutions in order to help the country answer to the challenges of the rising food prices.
And Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) will this month hold a high level ministerial conference on water in Libya.
FAO country representative Noreddin Mona, who confirmed the development when he paid a courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Minister, said the conference will start on December 15 and end on December 17, respectively.
The conference will among other important things focus on water and climate change.
ZANIS/TK/AM/ENDS
where’s the fertilizer you promised, RB?
This is disgusting,how can pande say that when pipo do not have fertilizer? pande just shut up.don’t raise our tempers.
Iwe pande what are you talking about?someone to help me,is this guy not from Nort western province? recently we were told that Mwinilunga farmers have run out of fertilizer.finsi alelanda kanshi uyu.
Numero quatro
no ferts, no land, no body nuys my produce. what do they want. i ain t starving. Thanks MMD
What about ferterliser issues???? :d/[-(:-t~X(8-}:-@**==**==:)):((
This Kabinga Pande should be the first one to lead by example.Does he himself even own a portion of Land? If he does ,what does he produce from that piece of land?
It is not good to instruct others when you are not doing anything.
He is just sitting and eating there in Lusaka.
These trick stars are good at talking.
God help us.
Dictatorship may be a better alternative ka. 8-x
What GRZ should do just for this farming season: Suspend all funding to the ministry of sport at least for a year because it not does not yiled any results, cut the salaries of ministers who just talk carelessly this, suspend NCC for a year. Now all this money should be pumped into agriculture. Make sure fertilizer is afordable.
Cut funding to secrete services OP because they dont do anything and give that money to fund poth main party and the opposition. Then see what would happen!!
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morgan tsangirai has been abducted.
#8 Dictatorship is starvation like Zimbabwe and Mugabe the great.
Africa is de most natural botanic garden on Earth. We have plenty food, healing herbs and fruits so no one really hafi starve.
#11 It’s not Morgan Tsvangira but his adviser who has been kidnapped.
That minister is not intellegent enough to in that position.Who wants to for nothing?Come idealogies that will encourage even a lazy villager to get up farm.
Lets be serious, use of fertilizer should be discouraged because it spoils the land, Govt should encourage conservation farming. It is disgusting that peasants still link farming to fertilizers, there’s need for agriculture education.
Muntu can’t grow food. Call Muzungu !!!!!!!!!!
These ministers, do they ever think through their words before they open thier mouth or are they just saying stuff to please thier vistors. Zambians are a very harding working people. Given the right support from gov we could grow and process our own food. Does Mpande understand how hard it is to till land with a hoe? What people need are tractors and other farm implements to do the job. Let Mpande just shutup if he doesn’t have anything worthy of telling us.
LT remember I have freedom of speech
Yusuf =:(|):(|)
Ba Zambia, where is the logic.**==**==**==
expect the worst ~o)
Free fertilizer will lead to more food! ;;)
;;);;)
Jst let them die.
Ho Ho Ho!
Going to get my full English breakfast ninshi bakapoli bali nensala.
Ho Ho Ho. No presents from me!
Yayaya but uyu mudala alesabaila zoona,hw can he even think of challenging ordinary zambian to grow more food when majority of zambians jst own amabala fye,the selfish government leaders..deny us land only jst to award it to the like of katebe katoto and there friend’s.when they dnt even do farming..thye jst use the land for hiding under the ant hills when they plunder our national resources.
#3,matworld-nice guy..mwalasa mudala aba bakelenka dnt even care,they hav free food using our tax payers money and they want tp pretend like they care.wat they care abt is making port bellies and hav fat pockets,while the majority out their suffer and only surviving coz it’s rain season kuti basabako ubowa mumbali ya chulu,ne fyumbu ulu chelo for breakfast.
grow more food koma fertliser namu luna ba kambwanga
When talking about increased maize production the only thing that comes into my mind is that these people in goverment don’t really think. How can you encourage poeple to grow more maize which depends on highly priced fertiliser without first considering recaptalising Nitrogen Chemicals. When are we going to promote our own industries to improve food production and subsequenly our economy.Remember susbsistence farmers can not afford fertiliser. Other countries have developed because they promote local industries to build their economies.
iwe pande u shud thnk before u open your tramp.pipo have a right to demostrate when they see their govt not showin initiative to provide basic needs such as food at affordable prices.pande, u and your govt have never understood the extent and depth of our pipoz suffering.honestly and frankly i feel we can live without the MMD GOVT and nobody will even notice,you are such a waste.
The money Kabinga and his friends are getting is too much that they have stopped thinking before they open their mouths.WHat Kabinga should advise his gov is to reduce on unnecessary spending and channel all the money they spend on talk time to their girl friend to agriculture subsidy to cushion the prices of inputs and allow citizens to freely access land which is now a priviledge for the foreigners and the politician in government.The gov have an obligation to help its people and if they only care for their salaries then let him just shut up.Pump more money in agriculture then no zambian will go hungry you liar of MMD.
Oh my foot imwe banthu. Kabinga has finally joined the group of comedians. What motivation is he giving to farmers for them to produce enough maize to feed the entire nation? I don’t like such jokes when people are dying due to starvation.
You need money to grow food. Let GRZ give us loans and we shall bumper harvest :x:d:)>-
As usual. Someone else’s job to feed the nation, govt is just there to “comment” and “challenge”. Shame
government is the people for the people <:-p
by the people.
Fertilizer at K200,000? Its not happening.the 50k fertilizer was only for members of cooperatives who had to buy shares to access it and even then they only bought maximum 4 bags two top dressing and two bottom dressing.And the minister has the cheek to tell pipo to grow more.
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to grow food one need fertilizers, not empty promises.
people are hungry. how can you be in the field the whole day without a meal. just put yourself in their shoes Mr Minister Sir.
RB, give people the fertiliser you promised!
EVEN AFTER SUCH CHEAP POLITICS PANDE IS SHOWING, COME 2011 PEOPLE WILL FORGET AND VOTE FOR HIM. LET US BE SERIOUS AND START SCRUTINZING THESE POLITICIANS ONE BY ONE. HE IS JUST TALKING CRAP!!! :o;)
We all got too excited by the rising copper prices years back and forgot that this sort of slump in prices happened in the 70s. All you bold heads can probably remember. Anyways, Mundia Sikatana pushed for reform in agric but LPM was too excited about making a quick buck from copper. We need to focus on agric in order to improves the lives of our citizens. This can at least reduce dependence on copperbelt and northwestern revenue.
People such as Mr. Pande should be called out on their nonesense. How do you encourage people to farm more when the government has completely abrogated its duties and failed to create an enabling environment? Mr. Pande and company need a crash course on the role that Government needs to play in order to foster such kind of activities. If you have an agriculture system that is a complete mess, then you are not likely to have food security. I cant believe these are the people chosen to hold public offices.
” Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande says there is need for the Zambian people to actively engage themselves into serious farming in order to answer to the challenges of rising food prices and help the country to maintain its food security. ”
Ok, well let’s walk the walk, Minister Pande. There are several things that can be done:
1) Victory gardens – convert open spaces in cities to vegetable gardens, to reduce demand from the market.
2) Support farmers with fertilizer – a short term measure
3) Create a class of commercial organic farmers with 100 hectares of land at their disposal.
4) Create works projects for rural infrastructure and hydrology so all farms have water.
5) Increase the FRA’s storage capacity. There should be enough food in storage to last the country 2 years, no matter what other factors would reduce the food supply.
6) Switch to biodiesel, so forex can be saved from disappearing to Saudi Arabia when paying for oil or other fossile fuels.
There alreayd is a Food Task Force, so let’s get busy.
43. Ici Shinka,
” How do you encourage people to farm more when the government has completely abrogated its duties and failed to create an enabling environment? Mr. Pande and company need a crash course on the role that Government needs to play in order to foster such kind of activities. ”
I hope the first thing the MMD drop, is their neoliberal beliefs that somehow the markets will take over the role of government.
As political appointees, the ministers need to step back and let the professionals in their ministries step up to the plate and give them the opportunity to look good.
This is the saddened time for this country. I feel like relocating to an Island. Politicians think Zambians are dumb?????
Please guys lets get serious and pray these people out of power
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