Bank of Zambia Governor Caleb Fundanga has called on emerging economies, including those in the Middle East, to consider partnering with African countries that have potential to produce the world’s food needs.
And Dr. Fundanga has called on developed countries to increase their technical support to agriculture sectors of African countries in order to build capacity in food production.
Dr Fundanga was speaking at the just-ended Follow-Up International Conference on Financing for Development to review the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus held in Doha, Qatar.
He said providing assistance to support development of human resource in Africa would also help in improving the comparative advantage of the continent and thus increase competitive advantage.
Dr. Fundanga noted that there was need to develop strategies aimed at addressing the challenges of the global food and financial crisis.
He said the current global food and financial crisis posed a threat of reversing the hard earned economic achievements which Zambia has recorded.
He said the challenges emanating from the food and financial crisis had significant effects on small, open and landlocked countries like Zambia.
Dr. Fundanga said Zambia, like many other developing countries, recorded unprecedented levels of economic growth in the past seven years which were now being partially frustrated by the global food and financial crisis.
He disclosed that the consistence in high economic growth was highly underpinned by the government adopted policy on economic growth and other structural reforms that strengthened the diversification process.
Dr. Fundanga said Zambia placed a lot of importance on the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus because it took place at a time of global economic uncertainty.
He said Monterrey Consensus has played an important role in Zambia’s history by helping it to realize that globalization facilitated growth and development as well as increased financial and economic stability.
Dr. Fundanga has since urged the world to find a global response where all developed and developing countries, should participate in finding lasting solutions to the global food and financial crisis.
This is contained in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today by First Secretary for Press and Publicity at Zambia’s Embassy in New York, Moses Walubita.
ZANIS/TK/ENDS
one oooo
two oooo
3 😡
AS USUAL ASKING FOR HELP…ANYWAY WE NEED IT NOW MORE THAN EVA
4:d
ok lets comment now.
Then one wonders y Africa can not develop……. just look at the contributions before me. ITS A SHAME!!
#7
what a falacy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ok ba seven what is ur contribution?
HIS STRATEGY IS TO DIVERT K80BILLION FROM ZAMTROP INTO HIS PERSONAL ZANACO ACCOUNT…
Strategy cut back no allowances for Ministers, members of Parliament and civil servants,Wage freeze for all from President to Janitor
Of the money we have seen thrown around thus far let me ask you this, that 168 billion that our country borrowed to give away to us in the form of an “economic stimulus package” …did it do a darn thing to create jobs or stimulate our economy. NO, nothing. And we borrowed the money from China. This past year the high cost of gas nearly destroyed our economy and society. More people lost jobs and homes as a direct result of that than any other factor in our history. Fannie and Freddie continue to get all the blame. Of all the homes I have seen lost in my area SW FL and believe me I have seen many, none were due to an adjustable mortgage. They were due to lack of work. Families went broke at
alone. Then added to that were increased electric rates FPL raised ours 16%. The high cost of fuel resulted in higher production and shipping costs that were passed on to the consumer, in most cases higher prices for smaller packaging. Consumers tightened their belts, cut back, went out to eat less or stopped totally. Drove around on tires that needed replacing longer, some even quit buying medicines they really need. Unfortunately cutting back and spending less results in even more layoffs. A real economical catch-22. And, as we are doing the happy dance around the lower prices at the pumps OPEC is planning to cut production to raise prices. They are even getting Russia in on the cutbacks.
Oil is finite. We have used up the easy to get to reserves already. It will run out one day. We have so much available to us. Solar and Wind are free sources of energy. Of course to get the harnessing process set up is somewhat costly it is still free energy. It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to charge and drive an electric car. The electricity to charge the car could be generated by solar or wind at least in part and in most cases totally. Why not use some of these billions to promote the set up of alternative energy projects on a national level? Give tax breaks and incentives to promote this. We could create clean cheap electricity, create millions of BADLY needed new gre
Yet another non-story. Fundanga, like most Zambians in government institutions, is highly educated but unfortunately has no practical business experience. He has no practical suggestions to make to the people of Zambia. So to appear impressive, he says a lot of stuff that no one actually understands or cares about. He never makes any controversial or ground breaking speeches. Instead he just manages BoZ from day to day. No strategic thinking! Here, he is just propagating the image of Africa as a continent of beggers.
Fundanga, you guys should admit that you are failures. All the favorable economic indicators that you have had in the past few years were as a result of external circumstances particularly increase in copper prices. You chaps mortgaged the country, you failed to advise Mwanawasa that there is nowhere in the World you can sell a copper mine for US$24 million and to add insult to injury you were getting unimaginably ridiculously low royalties from the mines. You will explain your corruption and negligence to the people of Zambia. We know this is why you rig elections. Economic meltdown has now come to smoke you out. Zambia is not salaula market. Imwe bakaponya ba MMD
BOZ is supposed to innovate and drive economic thinking. Instead ba Fundanga does not seem to know the extent of his responsibilities. There is no leadership in the country.
#’s 15,i6 and 17, seeing that u have trashed fundanga, i challenge u to provide innovative ways of dealing with the economic problems in zambia…just don’t speak from without, provide alternatives.u r in countries where people provide, or try to provide, alternatives if thinks are not working, yes i agree with u when u say we are perpetual beggers…what is the solution?
Note to dr. Fundanga: neoliberalism is dead. You sound like a headless chicken with your ‘comparative advantages’. And stop thinking about ‘partnering’ with foreign countries to grow food in Zambia.
Zambia needs to increase it’s agricultural production in a way that includes the population.
What are needed, are 100 hectare farms (accidentally the average size in the EU), growing organically, with inputs that are produced on the farm itself. That is a sustainable model of professional agriculture.
16. Chembe,
I agree with everything you’ve said.
18. Nalikwanda,
” what is the solution? ”
The solution is to what should have been done when times were good. Invest in infrastructure, develop agriculture, and beyond that, manufacturing, and then services. Neoliberalism thought it was a good idea to develop services (tourism) first. They built a house on quicksand.
The crisis in agriculture can be solved by increasing storage capacity so there is are at least enough food reserves.
Then, we have to get serious about switching a significant number of subsistence farmers into professional agriculture. That means that medium sized farmers must be secure in their property rights – land reform. They will need some support for machinery, some education (two years is more than enough to begin with). In short, we need to professionalize medium sized farming, and move away from the present subsistence/commercial farmer model.
Those western countries have used their economic booms to develop and spread infrastructure and capacity such as agriculture.But the dilema in africa is that mineral and other wealth do not go down for that; Zambia is one example in the last 7 years Fundga is talking about.Most young people are flocking to the cities because rural areas remain rural and remote with piecemeal agric activities..everything seems to be as if you are just been given a favour- just for political expedience! Talk of fertilizer,roads to posting of teachers;monga nikupempa cabe.Hope this crisis helps us to do better.Doing the same thing expecting new results we are told is = to madness.
Fundanga! This is a an economic Crisis not a famine. How come he never said anything about the price of meal meal. we need o invest in our own technologies so its cheaper and we can be Independent in just one sector.
#7 But what have you contributed you scumbag? Ho Ho Ho
#23 I agree with you. Instead of investing in infrastructure, our government has used the copper revenues to support an expensive cabal in Lusaka. The government in Lusaka spends money like water while councils around the country are starved of funds. They spend money on medical treatments in South Africa and on expensive cars. The only infrastructure expenditure comes from aid.
Mr Governor has underlined only, what Zambia has, had etc.as resource.We, working in Zambia in times of HPP projects like Kafue, Kariba, know it very well. In meantime, Zambia developed infrastructure like roads and perhaps railway. Connects by containers use with all sea ports in Southern Africa. Once, connections with Atlantic Ocean become better like Banguela Railways some years back, Zambia is land-locked country, NO MORE. Question is: who likes to be working in a beatiful, agricultural.mining amd touristic undeveloped country, ready to receive know-how. Specialy in Food, Bio-diesels, meat.flowers, many agroindustrial products etc. A Container reaches Europe or Asia in a month’s time. :):)>-:d/[-(
**==**==
BOZ, ZNBC, have failed. Why cant inovative personalities be put in place? ZNBC is worse.
hey #16 its adding “SALT” to injury and not “insult”. check your spellings guys. How do we develop like this. I know you are good in sciences. Hey dont get annoyed its just a correction.=d>:))
Only the fittest of the fittest shall survive.
Iwe fundanga Y can’t yu lower interest rates instead of saying it a free economy.impower us so that we borrow & start businesses am tired of yo talks
#28. Thanks. MMD neo liberalization policies of treating Zambia like a salaula market brought by Chiluba who was once Kaponya where everything was up for sale cheaply to foreigners’ i.e. Mines and all strategic industries removed Zambia’s economic defenses against external economic shocks. As things stand now, RB government has no tools and capacity to influence anything in Zambia, including basic things like price of meal. This maize price problem is mainly caused by high costs of distribution of inputs and inability of the government to collect maize from remote parts of Zambia which role they have left to brief case business men from Lusaka to exploit peasant farmers.
Contract Haulage (CH) which was a tool used in the control of distribution costs of farming inputs and timely collection of maize from peasant farmers was destroyed by MMD. Ask Pemba MP, David Mtongo for details on maize logistics. There are a lot of Zambians with knowledge, but MMD and VJ only believe in foreign image builders. MMD useless policies have now created a very difficult structural problem for Zambia. That is why Bwezani Banda is crying. He should have known better.
Fundanga is Right! Thew situation is serious. There is urgent tneed to convene an international conference on tackling the current finacial turmoil.SADC ! where are you. We should start at regional level!!:o
😮
fuseki #28 typical of Zambians. The owners of the language don’t even mind spellings.
This is a big lesson for the Fundangas and NYAMASOYA.Why did you remove magande? And where are those image builders.I thought it was shared.Today,just two months after the Election they are busy begging for assistance [-(;)
This is a big lesson for the Fundangas and NYAMASOYA.Why did you remove magande? And where are those image builders.I thought it was shared.Today,just two months after the Election they are busy begging for assistance .Muzalemo lila.we still have a long way to go [-(;)