Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Lackson Kazabu said it is embarrassing that the cattle population in the province has remained mediocre despite the abundant water and good pasture.
Mr. Kazabu however said the government was currently investing huge sums of money to improve the livestock sector and that Luapula Province would be treated as a special case.
He said the government has embarked on the creation of the breeding centres to increase livestock in order to encourage livestock production for people who may want to venture into cattle rearing.
The Deputy Minister said that 84 cattle seedlings of hybrid quality was being nurtured in the province while a large and high yield breed of goats will also be introduced soon.
Mr. Kazabu was speaking when he addressed officers from his ministry at the Fisheries Training Centre (FTC) in Nchelenge District.
He noted that despite the favourable temperatures, abundant water and good pasture, the cattle population and livestock in general in Luapula Province still remains poor.
Mr. Kazabu stated that the goat meat is a delicatessen in the neighbouring Congo DR and that because of the proximity with Luapula the market for goat products is guaranteed.
“Those who will decide to rare goats will find a source of income to meet their daily needs and send their children to school,” he said.
The minister however encouraged people to continue growing crops for consumption but was quick to note that there is more money in livestock and fish farming.
“We should look at areas as a nation that can earn us more money to better our lives and help us to grow the country’s economy,” he added.
He said the meeting was interactive will help officers to draw lessons that are in turn going to develop the livestock sector and fish farming.
Mr. Kazabu said the government’s philosophy was that ministers and senior government officials must go where the people are and find out what is happening on the ground.
Meanwhile Mr. Kazabu blamed the inadequate staffing levels in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) on the ill timed and implemented public service reforms programme by the MMD.
He said all the government ministries were affected in the name of downsizing the workforce during the former regime.
However, he said the good news is that his ministry has been given treasury authority to employ 900 workers to be shared among all the departments under the ministry.
“We will move gradually until the anomaly is corrected,” Mr. Kazabu said.
ZANIS
Hehehe, Kazabu honestly, don’t you know that bembas are lazy. To them livestock is umunani….that is all. they don’t think about to morrow, its lye first
There is nothing wrong with government trying to help the people of Luapula to own cattle. I fully support the idea. I hope this time around the Luapulans will not eat all the cattle like they did when KK tried to help them. With us kumawa we know a thing or two about animal husbandly but also need those free loan cattle to boost our stocks.
The government should not only treat Luapula as a special case. They should also encourage every province to do Cattle farming and fishing. The government should also encourage farmers to cultivate Perusian potatoes(Irish first discovered by English Europeans in Peru where they grew in the wild.), Rice and Wheat.
Genotype Introductions in the environments characterised with high levels of diseases and parasites.
Good luck
Check with our Zambian Masais (Tongas), They may have collected everything!
@cindy
ati zambian masais(tongas) kekekekekekekekekekekek
skills exchange ka!! laupula shoud offer fishing and utulumba making skills and tongas will give catlle skills
@ Ndobo,
Good ideal, it’s about time we traded with each other!
My apologies…. Idea and not that thing there.
This is a s.tu.pid comment. Go clean your ars.hole
what an empty dream ba minister! Luapula to have cattle? They will eat all of the cattle seedlings b4 its even planted. Just buy them fishing nets maybe. Or only if they vote for HH, then he will teach them how to nature and own 90,000 cattle per person.
They are not a pastoral people , Mr Minister. Some of these facts are so notorious that we dont expect a Minister to express surprise over a matter of such public notoriety. I can only suspect that the Minister could be laying ground for some favourable treatment to be extended to Luapula at the expense of other provinces. What else could motivate a Minister enough to risk public ridicule over his expressed surprise of a known fact ?
The first luapula man to own cows, Kambwili grazes them in a golf course. What did you expect?
In the 70’s I remember Mansa Farm Institute ran a goat and cattle breeding programme. One wonders what happened. There was an agricultural research centre along the Mansa-Samfya road. Among other live stock, there were cattle and the centre supplied Mansa with milk. What happened to all those centre and the good work?
Is Luapula tse-tse fly fee?
Ku Luapula bamadya Ng’ombe ikatunda, ati yatulika. So how can they have cattle?
Banter aside – this to me looks to be a good idea. I read a post by one elightened blogger on one of the threads who mentioned that one ton of beef is going at 7,000 british bounds while one ton of copper is at 8,000 BP. Let us have enough animals the country over and ensure these are marketable even in Europe by eliminating animal deseases. Even just in Africa we still have enough market for beef.
i support your reasoning.
all this nonsense about bembas or whoever lives in luapula eating the cattle is simple nonsense
this is a a good program or plan