Govt. pays all farmers in Mufulira

Government has paid all farmers in Mufulira district who sold their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in the 2013-2014 crop marketing season.

Mufulira District Commissioner Chanda Kabwe said government has also completed the supply of farming inputs to small and medium scale farmers in the area.

Mr. Kabwe said this in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today.

And the Mufulira District Commission said there was need for the country to diversify its economy from mining and prioritise
agriculture.

He said Zambia has favourable weather conditions that can turn the country into an industrial power house in the agriculture sector.

He has also implored investors to consider investing in the agriculture sector especially in Mufulira district which he said has
suitable climatic conditions for farming.

Mr. Kabwe said Mufulira has the potential of becoming the top performing agricultural district if the corporate world and other stakeholders in the country pump more money in the sector for the betterment of the people.

He paid glowing tribute to the two commercial farming entities in the district, Tripple X and Lakeview for adding value to the agriculture sector on a commercial basis.

Mr. Kabwe has also appealed to the private sector to ensure that they empower small scale farmers so that they can divert from the traditional way of farming and encourage them to start using small mechanised agricultural equipment that can help them to ease their farming activities.

He noted that improving farming at the grassroots level by sensitising and educating the farmers on the modern way of farming was the only sure way of improving their productivity.

He said Mufulira district has huge capacity of being Zambia’s food basket if the agricultural industry was developed at the commercial level.

Mr. Kabwe expressed happiness with the progression rate of the growth of the agriculture sector in the area despite the district being predominantly a mining region.

He said government was working round the clock to increase the productivity of subsistence farmers in the area by ensuring efficient and improved and timely supply of farming inputs to farmers.

Mr. Kabwe also stated that commercial farming was vital to the district and that if developed at a large scale, the area will change for the better in terms of food security at household and national level.

He said government was committed to improving the agriculture sector and has put forth the Musakashi irrigation scheme project which will be an awesome sight once completed as it will be the pride of the Copperbelt that will take agriculture to greater heights.