By Lawrence Kabutu
The Provincial Administration in Southern Province has called on the Swedish and Finnish cooperating partners to upscale activities implemented by Tree Nursery Associations in the province.
Southern Province Permanent Secretary Namani Moonze said the Tree Nursery Associations ought to diversify into various livelihood interventions such as citrus and other tree species if they are to mitigate the shocks of climate change.
Dr. Moonze was speaking when a delegation of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and senior staff from the Finnish Embassy of Zambia paid a courtesy call on him in Choma.
He noted that government will also support Tree Nursery Associations by constructing boreholes at their households for them to upscale the tree planting nurseries to realise income and lessen charcoal production.
Dr. Moonze affirmed that government remains committed to provide technical support to the associations and connect them to opportunities such as Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) and the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
‘’We should also be looking at issues of Climate Change as Southern Province is prone to draught so that communities can grow trees that do not require enough water as maize does that can provide an alternative in the years of drought and floods. We know that trees are more resilient and i am saying we move away from maize,’’ he added.
Dr. Moonze asserted that diversification is very important adding that creating market for farmers is critical once they are engaged in citrus production.
‘’We have demonstrated on nursery production of citrus yet most of the oranges are imported when we can engage individual farmers to produce citrus for instance one hectare each and we provide market for them,’’ he said.
And FAO Country Representative Suze Filliipin says it is gratifying for FAO and donors to see the alternative livelihood activities undertaken by tree nursery associations in the province under the Forest and Farm Facility programme in Zambia.
Ms. Filliipin said the best practices implemented by the Tree Nursery Associations should be upscaled for sustainability of the programme.
And Programme Manager for the Global Support Forest and Farm Facility Emma Tickner from SIDA Stockhholm said there is a great for beneficiaries as there is food security and environmental sustainability.
Ms. Tickner observed that the activities implemented by the Forest and Farm Facility have brought change for the beneficiaries in improving their livelihoods.
‘’ We see great relevance in this project both for food reduction and environmental sustainability. We are so excited to meet beneficiaries and Tree Nursery Associations benefiting from this programme,’’ said Tickner.
The Forest and Farm Facility Programme has been implemented in Zambia through the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment through the Forest Department, the FAO, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and AgriCord.
ENDS/LK/NAIS
