Government says it is putting in place response measures to prepare for the threats of projected El Nino, that will impact the agricultural sector.
In an interview with the media, Ministry of Agriculture Principal Public Relations Officer Balewa Zyuulu, says that the Ministry of Agriculture is empowering farmers with knowledge, including on what seed to plant.
Mr Zyuulu added that the government is committed to expanding irrigation coverage to over five hundred thousand hectares by 2031 in order to enhance resilience to climate shocks and securing food security for the country.
Mr Zyuulu added that his Ministry is also working with the private sector through the Sustainable Agriculture Financing Facility, SAFF that allows farmers to acquire irrigation equipment for all year-round crop production.
“We have empowered all our extension officers with the testing kits, we have also developed through our departments, such as Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, we developed drought-tolerant crop varieties, which farmers can adopt,” Mr Zyuulu said.
He said that his ministry will continue working with cooperating partners in order to achieve the presidential production targets by 2031.
Mr Zyuulu also called on the media to take an active role in ensuring that the farmers are well informed through various media platforms.
