ESTHER MSETEKA, Lusaka
FARMERS belonging to the Namwala dairy milk collection centre have urged Parmalat to upgrade the storage tank from the current 1,500 litres to 3,000 litres.
A check by the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) revealed that the centre is usually closed with a notice indicating that the tank is full, and no more milk should be collected until Parmalat sends a tanker to collect the produce.
“The dairy centre has been operating at a capacity of 1,500 litres, which gets full every 10 hours. The farmers are, however, saying the best capacity for the centre is a tank measuring up to 3,000 litres,” this is according to a Friday brief availed to the Daily Mail recently.
Meanwhile, Petauke District Land Alliance has launched a project to help strengthen customary land tenure and natural resource rights for small-holder farmers in Sandwe chiefdom.
The project, which will be implemented in 12 months, will help raise awareness and knowledge for small-scale farmers on resource and land tenure rights, among other issues.
It is envisaged that through the project, Chief Sandwe will issue more than 15,000 customary land certificates to small-holder farmers.
“This will lead to a significant decrease in land evictions, reduction in illegal wildlife harvesting and trade and displacements in the district,” the ZNFU statement reads.
It is further expected that after the issuance of customary land certificates, at least 90 percent of the small-scale farmers will adopt improved land use planning for future chiefdom level decision-making.
Commenting on the project, Chief Sandwe is optimistic that the initiative will help address some problems surrounding customary land tenure in relation to documentation.