Sat, 27 May 2017 11:04:16 +0000
ZAMBIAN farmers are responding well to calls for agriculture diversity with increased yields in crops other than maize, says Civil Society Organisation Scaling-Up Nutrition Alliance national coordinator Mwandwe Chileshe.
Ms. Chileshe said there was especially increased yields in soyabeans and groundnuts production raising nutritional value at household level.
She said with another maize bumper harvest being anticipated, the Government announced record high yields of other crops in addition to the standard maize produce.
Ms. Chileshe said this would help many Zambians have access to other foods other than just maize.
She said with the growing cases of obesity as well as high undernutrition, the Zambians would now have a more balanced died owing to access to variety of local foods.
Ms. Chileshe said the high disease burden of non-communicable illnesses was mainly as a result of limited choice of food which contributed to the poor nutrition of the country.
“A bumper harvest not only has the potential to ensure food security but also increase income at household level which translates into better food options for homes.
“The perpetuated mono-cropping and insistence on maize alone has been a cost and undoubtedly contributed to the poor nutrition of the country,” Ms. Chileshe said.
She explained the 2017 crop marketing season has revealed that while maize has a 25 percent increase from the last harvest, there was also a recorded increase on soybeans and groundnuts production with 31 percent and 28 percent respectively.
Ms. Chileshe said this worked in support of the organisation’s strategy of ending malnutrition in Zambia with records of huge statistics of up to 40 percent of under five children stunted owing to limited access to food.
“It has long been the cry of CSO-SUN that diversity is important to ensure nutrition security, as such, we are pleased to see increased production in the different crops.
“Ultimately, it falls on all Zambians to take action to ensure the best health for themselves, their families and Zambia by diversifying what they eat and having balanced diets,” she said.
And CSO-SUN has hailed Government for opening up the maize export market to enable farmers have access to wider markets for increased income.
She said the move must open up local market for other crops too other than maize which includes the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) which must secure the planned for 500, 000 metric tonnes of agriculture commodities as strategic reserves.
“These should not only be limited to maize so that the continued production of various crops is encouraged in later seasons, but also to ensure Food and Nutrition Security,” she added.
