Government has devised a concept paper which is aimed at engaging the business community in bridging the social-economic gap existing between people living in rural and urban areas.
Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Nkandu Luo said the concept paper proposes means of finding ways in which the business community can complement government efforts in improving the livelihood of the rural population through corporate social responsibility and general investment.
Professor Luo said the paper includes both short and long term interventions aimed at benefiting the rural communities.
She said this when she was addressing the business community in Lusaka today.
She explained that the current target was to empower rural communities and enable each chiefdom to produce not less than three products in the processing, manufacturing or fishing industries among others.
Prof. Luo said it was unfortunate that the corporate world has continued to concentrate their social responsibility in urban areas when rural people lacked basic necessities such as clean drinking water.
She has since urged the business community to take advantage of the investment opportunities presented by the abundance of natural resources in rural areas.