Tuesday, March 19, 2024

German’s Amatheon Agro Group Starts Stocking Zambian Foods on European shelves

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A new crop of non-genetically modified foods has found a home in German and other European food stores said Ambassador Anthony Mukwita citing Amatheon agro group, the largest single agro investor in Zambia from Germany.

“We were very delighted to learn that Amatheon agro company has now started stocking Zambian foods along with other countries on European shelves because this will spur local growth,” Ambassador Mukwita said.

Bruhn’s communication to the Zambian envoy reads in part that, “the first products like quinoa and Chia can be delivered now while superfoods will follow soon.” 

Bruhn who employs full time about 2,500 workers said his company is happy to bring “good things from Africa to Germany,” with other countries he is investing in being Zimbabwe and Uganda. The African food brand destined for Germany is called Zuba in local Zambian parlance and Zuva in Shona, meaning sunshine. 

His initiative is helping to give seasonal jobs to 1000 out growers during growing season and providing them with an income while the number could grow as he expands.

President Edgar Lungu has constantly called for diversification as part of the way to grow the economy, reduce poverty and create jobs beyond the traditional mining of commodities such as copper.

“We are here to see to it that the diversification our government seeks is a reality via partnerships with companies such as Amatheon agro group but eventually we also envisage a situation where Zambians themselves break into the foreign market in a bigger way,” said Ambassador Mukwita.

Traditionally, Zambia has been a mining country with copper exports being responsible for about 90 percent of its foreign currency receipts but that is slowly changing especially under President Lungu said Ambassador Mukwita. 

The news from Amatheon about Zambian agro products hitting German shelves can be described as an early Christmas present said Ambassador Mukwita, adding, the potential for agriculture production is immense supported by the country’s water and land resources. 

Zambia enjoys a significant share of water resources in the Southern African Development Community, SADC, region. It is the source of the Zambezi river, the 4th longest in Africa at 2,574 kilometers. Flowing through five other countries (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) on its way to the Indian Ocean, the river lingers longest in Zambia.

Other rivers include the Kafue and Luapula with the latter sharing its waters with the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC. The country is home to such lakes as the Bangweulu, Mweru which it shares with the DRC and Lake Tanganyika bordering Burundi, Tanzania and the DRC.

“Such abundant sources of water and land” said Ambassador Mukwita “makes Zambia a natural choice for any investor desirous of producing food to feed the world”.

This is according to a statement issued by Kellys Kaunda, First Secretary Press at the embassy of Zambia in Berlin, Germany. 

38 COMMENTS

  1. It is good, but too small a scale to spur local growth. We need 30 of such companies to push the 10 provinces. You have not even started, look for more companies, don’t get excited yet

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  2. As long as they can freely take out the sales and keep the money there, there’s no tangible benefit for the country and the economy. It will benefit the economy if the sales came back to Zambian banks, if German capital paid outgrower schemes to local farmers directly and they paid taxes and good salaries.

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  3. Excellent development Ambassador Mukwita. You have set the ball rolling, hopefully Zambian manufacturers will seize the opportunity.

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  4. Don’t get delighted! Take advantage! That is exactly how they bring their stuff to you — it is when there is crisis, ignorance (of how to do the same thing), or a lack of skills (which Africa now has plenty of if we can only shake off the employment syndrome for the startup and employer one).

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  5. “..Zambia enjoys a significant share of water resources in the Southern African Development Community, SADC, region. It is the source of the Zambezi river, the 4th longest in Africa at 2,574 kilometers….”

    Yet Zambians have been subjected to load shedding during lungus whole presidency ????

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  6. Western Province Permanent Secretary, Danny Bukali has said that the PF government has prioritized learning as a life-long process and this is provided at every level in the country.

  7. The only problem is Zambian govt itself doesnt know the importance of non-genetically modified foods and its value….they have signed deals with GMO companies like Masanto they do not even bother to read the small print. Any company that comes along is given land no questions asked.
    The first two paragraphs of this article are the ones with vital information the rest is Anthony’s write up bootlicking and appeasing his dull l@7y boss at State House remember this chap was an Editor for Times of Zambia. We Zambians are clueless to the potential value of superfoods like Quinoa, Moringa Leaf & Powder, Black Chia & Sesame Seeds etc …the Zambian govt has no tangible policy to encourage such put would rather waste funds on a non nutritional value crop like maize.

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  8. Marge – Amatheon Agri has farms in Zambia and is probably exports its raw material to India or Germany for packaging which is cheaper and this company is probably enjoying 5 year tax relief ….cost of production in Zambia is too high and electricity is unreliable.

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  9. My government promised that they will create 100 percent jobs empowerment for Zambians especially youths. In the coming, few years poverty will be a thing in history.

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  10. Quinoa and Chia??? Which Zambian tribe grow and eat such food?
    That’s another embassy with useless beings. And they are paid for such cheap life? One more year, they are out!

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  11. Look how angry the upnd diasporans are. We are now feeding these f00ls. You would expect them to show a little appreciation. Not these monkeys. They have been brainwashed by their masters to hate anything that is African . They also hate to see any positive development in Zambia because it makes them realise how f00lish they were to run away and seek asylum in countries which consider them second class citizens. I was surprised to watch a black music producer get beaten by police in France. It is all over news. Is this how you guys are living there? Very sad

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  12. This is not a coincidence. This is the hard work of Lungu’s government. This is a very huge thing that other countries are stocking up our foods.

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  13. Our food is just as good, but European markets are tight, the stipulated standards are meant to stop African products from entering Europe , and in many cases they set fake standards, and another stinking issue is, Europe fixes the prices of our goods and uses their currencies to buy our products ignoring our currencies. The time we as Africans start to put a price on our goods is day we shall truly be independent and develop.

  14. Our country is blessed with abundant sources of minerals, resources, water, and land. That’s why foreign investors are attracting to Zambia.

  15. If we compare the earlier ratio of exports with the current scenario of export, we will found that Zambia reached tremendous growth in exports, only because of President Lungu.

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  16. Please ignore the UK based impostor/ internet troll even from the time it posts you can tell its located in GMT zone its sources of news is European sources…it has no affiliation to PF no principles, no ethos, no morals ..don’t give it oxygen to dictate its agenda here!!

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  17. Mary – What do you mean 100% jobs? These are big Agric Businesses everything they grow is exported and processed abroad the only job you get is casual jobs like farm hands …go to their website and see who is in charge. The Amatheon Group has invested more than US$50 MIllion in Zambia and is integrating its activities along the agricultural value chain, mean while the PF govt has wasted more on overpriced second hand Fire trucks, Ambulances …I have not even mentioned the 1 million per kilometre wasted in road construction.

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  18. Joseph – But your La7y Lungu lamentably failed to pay a mere $42 million for EUROBOND making Zambia become the first country to default on its loans …how shameful is that?

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  19. Shikulu Tinaiza – This company is probably enjoying 5 year tax relief this small jumpy boy was promoting then after 5 years they will just change their name and enjoy another 5 years of tax relief…meanwhile you Zambians are taxed to death just to drive from Kitwe to Lusaka through illegal toll gate fees.

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  20. Tarino you are a nobody here. It hurts you to realise that majority do not care for what you have to say. How does the time I post have any impact on my location? Ulichipuba iwe. Does internet go down in Zambia at certain times for me to be restricted to blogging at Zambian time -whatever that means. Listen here small boy, you can call me an imposter all you want but it won’t change the facts of who I am. You fail to respond to my posts because I speak the truth without fear. Do not look down on us just because you have been granted asylum status by your former colonial master. Silly mongoose

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  21. Diaspora lady we thank you for your support unlike these other upnd supporting diasporans who lack patriotism. They think wiping an old whlte man’s backside is success in life

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  22. THEY JUST CLEAN TOILETS NO KUSAMBA ABAKOTE BA DIASPORA….THEY ARE BITTER IS IT PF THAT TOOK THEM TO EUROPE AND AMERICAN TO DO BLOWJOBS? DO YOU THINK HH WILL GIVE YOU JOBS? YOU FOREVER REMAIN ECONOMIC REFUGUEES

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  23. According to their website Amatheon Agri Zambia Ltd (AAZ) is a subsidiary of Amatheon Agri Holding N.V. and began farming operations in Mumbwa District in 2012….but there is Anthony ‘the Rat’ Mukwita rushing shamelessly to these guys offices for a photo shoot and stating that this is due to PF policies when in fact its MMDs as Land acquisition of that size in Mumbwa takes time to acquire so negotiations must have started in 2010.

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  24. @Kaizar Zulu…why all this hate for diasporans?Shame I feel sorry for you,something cant be right in your head…..

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  25. I am watching- Dont feed the troll and his bupuba antics to suit the lad’s agenda ….living abroad can be frustrating if you are daft upstairs like impostor so you dish your frustrations on others doing well whilst you hide behind a screen pretending to be someone you are not.

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  26. Michelo M. Mwanza – The only Agric -investors PF brought to Zambia are the Chinks selling steroid fed chickens at our markets and those useless former chink prisoners who have bought land corruptly and growing polluting the soils with chemicals.

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  27. I am watching – In fact you should be happy that he hates you as such type of people are ones you should distance yourselves from abroad, as for KZ himself he is a nice chap who laughs out loud at what this UK based silly impostor posts and makes references to his Facebook page. At one time he was posting as Bowman Lusambo but LT brought the location flags only to find Bowman was also based in UK like this prat.

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  28. I am watching the only ones with hate are the diasprans comments which you have chosen to ignore because you think with your tribe and not your head. I think you will notice that I am responding to specific comments from hateful diasporans who support upnd but are scared to publicly come out as upndsuppprters. I will defend my country against any foreign hate or attacks as is being exhibited by the f00lish diasporan comments you have chosen to ignore. As for tarino I don’t have time for kunta kintes. How strange a person with bottles on his picture and with a name of an old soft drink is calling me fake and an imposter because of a flag that reflects the IP address allocated by my security VPN. What a villager hahaha

  29. I am watching the only ones with hate are the diasprans comments which you have chosen to ignore because you think with your tribe and not your head. I think you will notice that I am responding to specific comments from hateful diasporans who support upnd but are scared to publicly come out as upndsuppprters. I will defend my country against any foreign hate or attacks as is being exhibited by the sadist diasporan comments you have chosen to ignore. As for tarino I don’t have time for coons. How strange a person with bottles on his picture and with a name of an old soft drink is calling me an imposter because of a flag that reflects the IP address allocated by my security VPN. What a villager hahaha

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  30. In Europe and US, farmers are paid not to over produce. This keeps the prices high. In Zambia, we want everyone to produce more maize to bring down the price of mealie meal. So farmers in Zambia will never get rich from farming, except those who do it part time while being highly paid civil servants or politicians.

  31. THE SAINT- only farmers who grow a loss making crop like maize will never be successful smart farmers don’t grow those that do only use it for their animal feed. Don’t you know that even before you plant your maize seed you are at a loss?

  32. @Mukavu Chilongo, well said. This reminds me of those days when Zimbabwean border guys would burn our kapenta from the same Kariba that they were fishing theirs… this is how arrogance of the West keeps our products from accessing their markets. In most cases we have superior products if only we can do the packaging and so-called “vetting” according to what they want. Usually that is all it takes.

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