By Henry Kyambalesa

Meaningful socioeconomic development cannot be attained in any given country where the labour force is composed of starving, sickly and illiterate citizens.

In this article, I wish to suggest viable ways and means by which the Zambian government—and any other national government as a matter of fact—can boost agricultural production as well as enhance the country’s food security. I am prompted to share my views on this subject by the current incidence of smuggling and shortages of mealie-meal.

According to the resolutions of the World Food Summit held in Italy in November 1996, “food security” exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

Such is the situation Zambia should strive to attain by taking the following measures—measures that will make it possible for the country to attain greater food security and lower prices of food rather than have politicians dictate the prices of mealie-meal and other kinds of foodstuff:

1. Address the following factors identified by the COMESA Secretary General in 2000 as having contributed to the low levels of agricultural production in Zambia: (a) non-availability of financial capital, and the high cost of agricultural credit; (b) inadequate transportation and storage infrastructure, and the high cost of transport; (c) the under-provision and high cost of agricultural inputs; (d) an inefficient agricultural marketing system; (e) inadequate skills in agricultural production and marketing; (f) inconsistent and unrealistic agricultural policies; and (g) inadequate investment in agricultural development by the national government.

2. Revive and revitalize the Zambia National Service (ZNS) production camps, which should accept enrolment by Zambian citizens on a voluntary basis, as well as promote and bolster agricultural production in the camps through greater financial support and generous conditions of service for ZNS personnel.

3. Require all provinces to create revenue-generating Provincial Agricultural Estates, and to use a portion of the output of the schemes to maintain their own local food reserves, and also require all district councils, educational and training institutions, police camps, military barracks, garrisons, and prisons to initiate and maintain agricultural production units.

4. Encourage resettlement schemes to produce more food by providing for irrigation dams and canals at all such schemes, and provide for attractive agricultural incentives to boost both small-scale and large-scale farmers.

5. Create and maintain irrigation schemes at taxpayer expense, including the damming of rivers and construction of irrigation canals nationwide. There is a pressing need for the government to promote all-season crop production—January through December. In this regard, one would appreciate the pledge made by donor countries to bolster the viability of the envisaged National Irrigation Plan (NIP), which the government should earnestly embrace.

6. Create feeder roads and maintain old ones nationwide, improve training conducted in agricultural research centres, provide for low-interest loans for erecting secure storage facilities, and extend incentives to agribusinesses and canners and processors of agricultural produce.

7. Create—in collaboration with the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), the Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ), the Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF), and other relevant stakeholders—a marketing system for all kinds of agricultural produce designed to provide for the following: direct sourcing of such produce from farmers by millers, retailers and other industrial buyers; and procurement of unsold produce by the Food Reserve Agency at wholesale prices for preservation and/or distribution to government institutions like boarding schools, colleges and hospitals.

8. Promote efficiency in processing, sourcing, and distribution of agricultural inputs by providing for informal trade in agricultural inputs among farmers, and the creation of a “Farmers’ Holding Company” by farmers (through a low-interest loan, if needed), to supply low-cost inputs nationwide at zero sales tax—including seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, stock feeds, and grain bags. The cooperating farmers will assume ownership of the company as founding shareholders, and the company will preferably be registered and operated as a corporate entity.

9. Ensure that the various kinds of imports that are currently ex-empted from customs duty will continue to enjoy the duty-free status—including fertilizer, irrigation equipment, irrigation pumps, tractors, machinery for soil preparation and cultivation, harvesting and threshing machinery, poultry machinery, fungicides, and herbicides. And

10. Governmental support of all kinds of agricultural pursuits and endeavours, including poultry, dairy farming, cattle ranching, fish-farming, horticulture, and crop husbandry.

By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D. Emeritus Professor of Sociology

There are at least 4 traditional non-alcoholic brews that are best consumed using either chipindi or nkhombo traditional Tumbuka containers. These traditional drinks among the Tumbuka people are Mthibi, Zinduku, Thobwa, Chinya, Mtaba, and Moba (beer). All of these traditional brews either use vingoma (maize or corn) or Lupoko (finger millet) when making them.

Vingoma (maize or corn) and Lupoko (finger millet).

The beginning of the making of these traditional brews starts with proper preparation of vingoma or Lupoko. Depending how much of the traditional brew is to be made, certain amounts of maize or lupoko are soaked in water for three days. Exactly what is done with the maize is done with the lupoko. We will just mention the maize since this is what is used when making Thobwa. After soaking or kuzubika for up to 3 days, the water is then drained and thrown away. The moist maize is then spread in a chihengo or a wide flat container. The maize is covered with a wide piece of paper or cloth and placed away in a secluded location may be somewhere in the kitchen or basement. After 3 days the maize will germinate. You then spread the germinated maize on a flat mphasa (mat) or chihengo and dry it in the sun. After the germinated vingoma (maize) or lupoko (finger millet) is dry, grind it into flour using an electric grinder, a pestle and mortar, and if you are in the village you can use a diesel driven hammer mill. This maize or lupoko flower is now called Chilungo.

Thobwa

When I was young growing up in the 1960s in my family, my mother often cooked Thobwa. She served Thobwa as a variation in our family diet and breakfast. We would drink hot Thobwa with bananas or we could just drink it on its own. The Thobwa was cooked with maize mealie meal. This is the whole description of how to cook Thobwa.

64 oz. or 2 liters of water. (2,000 Mls., 16 cups, or 2 quarts)

1 Cup or 8 oz. Roller Mealie meal or mugayiwa.

1 and half cups Chilungo

Chilungo

To make the very important Chilungo ingredient for cooking Thobwa, take 5 cups of maize and put it in a container. Pour water into the container of the maize until the water completely covers all the maize. Put the container away. Let the maize soak in the water for 2 days or 48 hours. After the 2 days, drain all the water away. Put the wet maize in a chihengo basket or a flat container. Spread the maize and cover it with a paper towel. Check the maize at the end of every day to see if it is beginning to germinate. After 2 to 4 days, you should see some small green shoots on the maize.

Take the maize and dry it in the sun for 8 hours in the chihengo basket. You have choices on how to grind the Chilungo. You can use a pestle and mortar to pound and sieve the maize to make the Chilungo flour. You can also use an electric grinder to grind the maize into Chilungo flour.

The Cooking of Thobwa

Pour the 64oz or 2 liters of water into a large pot. Heat the water until it is warm. Pour the 1 cup or 8oz of Roller mealie meal into the pot and stir. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom.

Slowly and thinly sprinkle the one and half cups of Chilungo into the pot stirring continuously to prevent the forming of lumps. After the Chilungo has been thoroughly stirred into the pot, simmer for 25 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom. Remove the pot and place it on the side to cool down overnight. Do not refrigerate.

Serving

The Thobwa in the pot will be cold and very thick in the morning. About 45 minutes before breakfast, place the pot on medium heat to avoid burning at the bottom. Pour 32oz. or 1 liter of water into the pot and stir for 5 minutes. You can add more or less water if you prefer your Thobwa drink to be thicker or thinner. Let the Thobwa simmer to a boil for 20 minutes as you occasionally stir. The hot Thobwa is ready and can serve five people. Adding sugar is optional as the drink should have a natural sweet taste to it. I prefer and enjoy drinking Thobwa without adding sugar. You can drink it at any other time cold or hot as a refreshment.

If the Thobwa is kept in the open at room temperature for 6 days, it will turn into the traditional brew or drink called chinya or mutaba. On the seventh day it will turn into alcohol and become beer or moba.