Pelum praises Govt over sensible budget

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 11:21:52 +0000

THE NGO Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Zambia has applauded government for the 2017 national budget and its efforts to raise resources to foster national development and for recognizing key sectors that should drive economic development.

PELUM country coordinator Muketoi Wamunyima pointed out that the budgets’ recognition of agriculture as one of the key sectors was commendable.

“The Zambian Agriculture sector is an important sector, providing employment to over 60% of the population with over 80% in rural areas depending on agriculture. It has the potential to end hunger and also facilitate advancement of other sectors. The 2017 budget has provided 4.6% of the total budget to FISP and FRA.

However, Mr. Wamunyima ─ whose organisation seek to improve the living standards of vulnerable communities, and building their natural resources in a sustainable way ─ advised government to invest in research and development in order to find better practices and technologies that would improve agriculture productivity.

“We take recognition of the fact that agriculture cannot develop in isolation of other sectors such as energy, transport, trade and information and communication technology (ICT), and therefore we appreciate the fact that government is putting resources towards these sectors,” Mr. Wamunyima said.

He also said his organisation was pleased with the fact that the Seventh National Development Plan, was putting emphasis on economic diversification and job creation, with specific interventions targeted at other sectors such as industrialization, tourism and mining.

And Mr. Wamunyima observed that the allocation of resources to the Social Food Security Pack and the Social Cash Transfer would further help in alleviating poverty among the most vulnerable people in communities.