Fri, 12 May 2017 12:45:40 +0000
By AARON CHIYANZO
BANKS should take the risk of lending to small scale farmers to enable them increase their productivity and enhance crop diversification, Minister of Agriculture Dora Siliya has charged.
Ms Siliya said that Zambian farmers had the potential to expand their production but they lacked the necessary support.
She reiterated that Government was doing its best in supporting farmers and that the private sector should follow suit.
Ms Siliya said during a special interview program on ZNBC that banks should take a risk on farmers and provide them with enough financial support which could enable them to increase productivity.
She pointed out that small scale farmers needed financial support to procure modern farming equipment, for irrigation and buy other necessary utilities.
“We have to take a chance on that small farmer out there who has the potential of becoming a commercial farmer tomorrow. Ninety percent of our budget is for the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) and it goes through the banks, so let them reciprocate and take a chance on our farmers,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ms Siliya commended Zambian farmers for responding to the good prevailing environment and increasing production by impressive margins.
She pointed out that the maize harvest last year was 2.8 million metric tonnes but that this year the harvest was projected at 3.6 million tonnes.
Ms Siliya said that Zambian farmers had been adapting well to the crop diversification process and even yields of other crops were projected to have increased.
She explained that one of the major contributing factors to the projected increase in different crops has been Government’s decision to incorporate other crops on FISP.
Ms Siliya called for more private sector support to farmers and other Government ministries to provide the necessary incentives to the farmers.
“Farmers will need electricity, water, land and other incentives for them to flourish, hence the necessary support should be given to the farmers for them to increase productivity,” she said.
