The Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) has said the agriculture sector should be competitive for it to effectively contribute to the national economy.
Speaking in an interview ahead of the 105th annual congress, ZNFU head for outreach member services and administration Coillard Hamusimbi said the only way that agriculture could be competitive was by farmers striving to produce high quality products.
The annual congress starts today and President Rupiah Banda is scheduled to officially open the meeting whose theme is “Productivity, competiveness and market development,” which Mr Hamusimbi said was meant to highlight the importance of competitiveness in the sector.
“We have noted that production efficiency is still low particularly among the small-scale farmers as they are only able to produce 2.5 tonnes per hectare but using conservation farming, they can produce five tonnes per hectare and if we make agriculture competitive, we can export at reasonable cost,” Mr Hamusimbi said.
The problem that has led to Zambia fail to export was the cost of production and transport which were on a higher side than others in the region.
[pullquote]“We have noted that production efficiency is still low particularly among the small-scale farmers as they are only able to produce 2.5 tonnes per hectare but using conservation farming, they can produce five tonnes per hectare and if we make agriculture competitive, we can export at reasonable cost,” Mr Hamusimbi said.[/pullquote]
The livestock sector was cardinal and Government needed to control livestock diseases which were a perennial problem for many farmers.
During the congress, Mr Hamusimbi anticipated that the problem of livestock diseases would be tackled as the union had invited experts from 10 regional countries.
The experts from other countries would be able to highlight how their respective nations had overcome the problem of livestock diseases.
The congress is expected to bring together about 400 delegates from 65 districts and others from neighboring countries.
[ Times of Zambia ]
