Zambia gets $20m for small holder agric promotion
By NDUBI MVULATHE International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) has given Zambia US$20 million (about K94 billion) for small-holder agricultural business promotion aimed at sustaining livelihoods of poor farmers and eradicating poverty.
This is contained in a press release issued by Ministry of Finance and National Planning public relations officer Chileshe Kandeta in Livingstone yesterday.
He said during the signing ceremony in Rome, Italy, IFAD president Nwanze Kanayo signed on behalf of his organisation while Zambia’s Ambassador to Italy Lucy Mungoma signed for the Zambian Government.
Mr Kandeta said Dr Kanayo said IFAD is pleased with the partnership with the Zambian Government and would demonstrate its confidence in the partnership by establishing a country office before the end of this year.
“He (Dr Kanayo) applauded the excellent relations between his organisation and Zambia’s ministries of Agriculture, Co-operatives, Livestock and Fisheries and Finance and National Planning,” Mr Kandeta said.
Dr Kanayo guaranteed the success of the programme and said his organisation would continue to implement poverty reduction programmes in rural areas of Zambia.
He said during the same function, Ms Mungoma said since majority of small-scale farmers are women, facilities should be created to enable them to sell their surplus produce at fair prices to improve their livelihoods and assist them to access services such as education and health care.
“Through this agreement, the Zambian Government has demonstrated its commitment to development of policies and programmes that connect small-scale farmers with input suppliers and markets, build their profitability, and enhance their capacity to positively intervene in the value chain,” Ms Mungoma said.
Ms Mungoma said Government would always ensure women’s participation in development programmes, hence the importance attached to the signing of the agreement.
Mr Kandeta said 24,000 poor rural households will benefit from the small-holder agricultural business promotion programme.
The facility will accelerate policies that promote sustainable small-scale production, enhance food security efforts, and emphasise the economic well-being of women and the rural poor.
“The Agreement is also critical to achievement of Millennium Development Goals on eradication of extreme poverty and hunger,” he said.
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