President Lungu impressed with climate change mitigations

President Edgar Lungu has appreciated the innovative thinking that the Ministry of National Development Planning through the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project (ZIFLP) has introduced to improve food security and livelihoods of rural communities while achieving climate change mitigation objectives.

President Lungu made the commendation when he recently visited the farm of Mr Charles Tembo, a ZIFLP Lead Farmer from Manyane Agriculture Camp in Chief Mwanjabanthu in Petauke District in Eastern Province, who is growing cashew and practicing Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) techniques taught by ZIFLP, a Project in the Ministry of National Development Planning.

He said the innovation will improve food security and livelihoods as well as enable the country attain its climate change mitigation objectives in line with international climate change commitments.
President Lungu was pleased to witness that cashew can also grow in Eastern Province. The President said he looked forward to see more farmers adopting CSA, which includes high value tree crops such as cashew.
President Lungu has just concluded his successful working visit to Eastern Province.

ZIFL Project is an initiative of the Government of Zambia through a loan facility from the World Bank at a total cost of $32.8 million meant to support rural communities in Eastern Province to allow them better manage the resources of their landscapes to reduce deforestation, improve landscape management and increase environmental and economic benefits for targeted rural communities.

Explaining to the President about his cashew nut farming and support from Government through the Ministry of National Development Planning, Mr. Tembo expressed gratitude to ZIFLP for the technical support and knowledge about climate smart agriculture imparted in him and other farmers.

Mr. Tembo requested the Ministry of National Development Planning through ZIFLP to support him and fellow farmers with borehole for watering the trees, saying that he had totally embraced climate smart agriculture.

The farmer expressed gratitude to His Excellency the President for visiting his farm, adding that the visit had given him and other farmers in the catchment area encouragement to do more and contribute to Zambia’s development.

And ZIFP National Project Coordinator Dr. Tasila Banda commended President Lungu and his Government for the commitment to combat climate change through mitigation and adaption interventions such as ZIFLP.
“As an integrated Project, the only way to keep these intervention sustainable is to engage the private sector who are helping communities to generate bankable project proposals for enterprises around agriculture value chain, non-timber forest value and eco-tourism,” said Dr. Banda. “All three technical service providers have been selected, these being private sector who have a good track record and evidence of products on the market.”

Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project’s three components are meant to create enabling conditions for livelihood investments to be successfully implemented and provide support for Local Level Planning and Emissions Reductions Framework, focus on activities that improve rural livelihoods, conserve ecosystems and reduce Gas Emissions, finance activities related to national and provincial level project coordination and management, and provision of assistance in the event of a disaster or emergency relief.
This is according to a media statement issued by Ministry of National Development Planning Spokesperson Mr. Chibaula D. Silwamba in Lusaka yesterday.