Agricultural bottlenecks in Zambia

A piece in the "Art of Farming" column of the Times of Zambia: Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in Zambia and farmers’ expectations from the Government are high. The farmers have told this column that there is need for the Government to address the bottlenecks that have continued to affect the growth of the sector after analysing the challenges faced previously.

...Mukosa Matafwali of Ndola rural said she would be happy to see the benefits of the good Budget improving agriculture business for small-scale farmers. She said farming would be appreciated and contributes to poverty reduction unless the Budget begins to address concerns affecting the development of small-scale farmers.

...Luanshya’s Kampelembe Camp Agriculture chairperson Pythias Timba said lack of information of the weather pattern continues to affect farmers especially on climate change. Mr Timba said there was need to build capacity among small-scale farmers on issues of addressing the effects of climate change because they are the most vulnerable in the farming society.

He said with a majority of Zambians depending on agriculture, even a slight change in temperature could affect crops like maize and livelihoods. Mr Timba said any change in climate can spell disaster hence the need to teach the farmers on the mitigation and adaptation measures....