Hand hoe cannot end poverty

By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE –
FOR many generations, small-scale farmers have produced an estimated 90 per cent of Zambia’s food requirements using the hoe, and for generations, the country has failed to fully exploit its agriculture potential.
But as population grows and with rising climate change challenges putting pressure on yields, it has become inevitable to mechanise farming in order to maximise yields.
Records indicate that Zambia holds an estimated 40 per cent of the water resources in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in form of lakes and rivers, but there has been little that the country has to show for this water resource.
Agriculture remains dependent on rainfall and use of hand-held implements.
This means even though Zambia sits in the middle of eight countries nearly all of which may be faced with food shortages, Zambia has largely failed to turn its potential to its economic advantage.
However, indications exist that the story is changing.
Recently, 24 commercial farmers from South Africa, among them the biggest citrus, cattle, sugar cane and nuts producers visited the country to exploit investment opportunities.
The farmers, who literally control South Africa’s agricultural economy, each has an annual turnover in excess of US$6.5 million per year.
They travelled under the auspices of Agri All Africa.
The farmers said they were focusing on investing in areas of fresh produce which include sugar cane, wheat, maize, soya beans and livestock, among others.
Besides Zambia, the group identified countries like Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Namibia and Sudan as their immediate investment destinations.
They hailed Zambia as number one priority because of its proximity to South Africa which would make it easier for them to drive their equipment into the country.
Their decision to travel to Zambia was made last month at a meeting organised by Agri All Africa held in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
According to Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba, the farmers expressed interest in expanding their investments into Zambia because of the country’s rich water resources, arable land and fairly favourable weather pattern.
Mr Mwamba said Zambia should have an ambitious development agenda like China which allowed foreign investment that helped in lifting the populace out of poverty.
He also disclosed that during their visit, the 27 commercial farmers met with various stakeholders, including Government and the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU).
He said the farmers feel Zambia has the best climate and investment conditions in addition to having an advantage geographically where it is surrounded by countries which can serve as a market for various products.
The Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) assured the commercial farmers of a good agricultural environment with good investment policies which the Government has put in place.
ZNFU second vice-president Graham Rae said Zambia has the most favourable agricultural investment climate endowed with vast arable land and water resource which is underutilised.
Mr RAE said increased investment in agriculture will help Zambia to exploit the export market which is readily available in the neighbouring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola and Zimbabwe.
Representative of the visiting farmers, Dirk Hanekom, said his group has the potential to make a difference in the country’s farming sector.
Mr Hanekom said the group opted to start its mission with Zambia due to the favourable investment climate and a well-organised national farmers union.
He said there is need to get to a level where commercial farmers can help smallholders to become commercial farmers.
Mr Hanekom’s statement on commercial farmers to help small-scale farmers to upgrade their activities must have struck a code.
This is because the Government is currently working towards developing farm blocks across the country where commercial farmers would be encouraged to organise small-scale farmers into out grower schemes that will sell produce to the commercial farmers and improve their livelihood.
The Government hopes to ensure that through the commercial farmers, the small scale farmers will have a greater bargaining power and a ready market for their crop without having to rely on Government for logistics or market access.
Government further hopes it would be easier to mechanise farming activities among out grower schemes by providing them with things like tractors and irrigation equipment for them to improve their yields and increase their income.
Increased yields will in turn increase food supplies on the market and help to reduce prices, especially of the staple food products such as mealie-meal.
Low food prices would contribute to a lower rate of inflation and help stabilise the economy against sharp price hikes that come about when prices of basic food items turn volatile.
But for the economy to fully benefit from lower and stable food prices, investment in agriculture is key.
Outgoing Copperbelt Mining and Agriculture Society chairperson Bill Osborne recently urged the Government to investment in agriculture because the country’s economy can only record significant growth if agriculture has sufficient investment.
Mr Osborne said Zambia boasts of a fantastic environment which is ripe to support the agriculture sector.
He said agriculture is the answer to the country’s current economic challenges because it has the capacity to become vibrant and lucrative even for the Copperbelt Province which is known for copper mining.
COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya equally called for the need for African countries to invest in order to use innovation to boost agricultural productivity and trade.
Mr Ngwenya said technological interventions will help in securing Africa’s future through increased agricultural productivity.
He said this at the recent signing of the memorandum of understanding between COMESA and African Agricultural Technology Foundation-AATF.
AATF Executive Director Dennis Kyetere said the use of technology will play a key role in addressing farmer’s constraints and enhancing agricultural development.
Dr Kyetere said AATF promotes various kinds of technologies to strengthen the capacity of farmers in Africa and the COMESA region.
These statements fall in line with Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda who recently called for farming to be mechanised across the country.
Mr Lubinda warned that it will be difficult to combat climate change without improvements in technologies.
Speaking at a dinner hosted in honour of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) Associate vice-president Perin Saint-Ange in Lusaka recently, Mr Lubinda said the use of a hand hoe has subjected women farmers to poverty.
He said the hand-hoe should not be used as a tool to mitigating climate change because its use in modern agriculture is slowly being phased out.
He said rural-based farming communities, especially women who are the majority food producers must realise that the hoe cannot be used anymore to feed the ever increasing population and adverse weather patterns that are also impacting productivity.
Mr Saint-Ange called for the need to transform subsistence agriculture into commercially viable enterprises.
He said the recent African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meeting that was hosted in Lusaka renewed enthusiasm among African leaders to transform agriculture on the continent.
He said Africa must commit enough resources to help women farmers participate in agriculture production and nutrition enhancement.
Zambia has recorded a bumper harvest this year despite difficulties that characterised the 2015/2016 weather pattern.
According to President Edgar Lungu, the country produced a record 2.7 million tonnes of maize in the 2015/2016 farming season.
The Government has since lifted the ban on maize exports.
However, it is vital that Zambia uses its human and natural resource to, not only produce bumper crops but lift its people out of poverty.
This would be done through mechanising agriculture to increase yields, lower local food prices and boost agricultural exports to the region and beyond.