Zambia's Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Given Lucinda, said that the country has depended on the mining sector for decades and now needs to diversify its economy; agriculture has been earmarked as a key sector for doing this.
“Agriculture is the future of Zambia,” said Lucinda.
“We have depended on the extractive industries over the last 50 years. I usually ask the question, ‘will copper see us through another 50 years? My categorical answer is No.’”
Several initiatives have been initiated to expand agriculture.
Cabinet has approved the expansion of the Farmer Input Support Programme electronic voucher system in the 2016/17 season.
In response to climate change the government is investing heavily in irrigation. Zambia has the potential to irrigate 2.5 million hectares of land but so far only 10 percent of that is under irrigation. The government will open up 6,000 hectares of land for irrigation. Already, 11,000 hectares of land has been opened up in Lusitu, Mwomboshi and Musakashi.
The government will also soon start making farming implements available to small scale farmers.
Source: cajnewsafrica.com