By KAKOMA CHAYINDA
Zambia’s Agricultural sector has undergone a significant growth over the years attracting many local and international players in investments.
The country boosts of about 38.39 million hectares of arable land, presenting opportunities for continued investments in crop and seed production, fisheries and livestock, processing, Agri-technologies and market linkages within and outside the country.
During the recently held inaugural Mkushi Agri-Expo in Central Province, President Hakainde Hichilema, in a speech read on his behalf by Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo said the country is ready to accommodate foreign investors wishing to invest in its agriculture sector.
“Government places Agriculture as the engine of the economy and if you are a farmer looking for a stable country to invest in, come and invest here because we aim to make farming support the Country’s GDP,” Mr Mtolo said.
He explained that currently, the country is one of the biggest exporters of seed in African with an annual production of eighty thousand metric tonnes.
“We use 50,000 metric tonnes of seed per year but produce up to eighty thousand metric tons making Zambia the undisputable biggest exporter of seed in Africa, this number will go up with a new seed plant set to produce seventy-five metric tonnes in Kabwe district,” Mr Mtolo stated.
He added that the Ministry of Agriculture is implementing the Compressive Agriculture Transformation Support Program (CATSP) meant to transform the agriculture value chain in order to improve the country’s food security.
Mr Mtolo explained that CATSP is a broader approach the ministry is using to grow the sector through programs such as the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) and the Sustainable Agriculture Financing Facility (SAFF) among other programs of the Ministry.
“We are unhappy with the contribution of the agriculture sector to the country’s gross domestic product. Hence, we are now implementing CATSP which will improve the Agri-value chain in research, farming, post-harvest, processing and marketing of the Agro-products,” he emphasized.
Mr Mtolo hailed the organizers of the Mkushi Agri-Expo for bringing sector players together and said such events are important for small scale famers to gain immense knowledge through interactions with experts and that it also helps to market the agriculture potential of the country.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Mkushi District Commissioner Jonathan Kapungwe indicated that the district is expecting a good harvest following an improvement in the rain season for the 2024/2025 farming season.
Mr Kapungwe said commercial farmers who were engaged by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) under the early maize program are expected to start delivering maize to depots in the district.
“Mkushi district received good rains and we are hopeful that we shall have a better harvest this year. Different commercial farmers were engaged by FRA for the early maize and we are happy that they will begin to supply it soon which will increase our reserves,” Mr Kapungwe stated.
And one of the exhibitors, Greg McGrengor, the Chief Commercial Officer for the United Capital Fertilizer said his firm is this year expected to start the production of Three Hundred Thousand tons of Urea fertilizer to ensure the availability of fertilizer all year-round.
Mr McGrengor thanked the government for its enabling environment that supports investments in the agriculture sector adding that United Capital Fertilizer is currently producing five thousand tons of MPK fertilizer.
“United Capital Fertilizer has made significant progress in the production of fertilizer and we have another exciting story where we will soon start producing energy that we hope to be feeding in the national grid through our power plant,” Mr McGrengor announced.
The Event Organiser, Bobby Singh, explained that the idea behind the Mkushi Agri-Expo is to bring together agriculture sector players to network and market their products and services so as to create sustainable growth in the sector.
It was clear from the success of the inaugural Mkushi Agri-Expo that Zambia is poised for transformation in the agriculture sector, evidenced from the number of exhibitors that ranged from seed manufacturers, mechanization suppliers, processors, insurance and financial institutions. –NAIS
