Maize export ban guarantees food security-Siliya

Sat, 04 Feb 2017 12:47:38 +0000

GOVERNMENT imposed a ban on the export of maize and mealie meal to ensure the country is food secure, Minister of Agriculture Dora Siliya has said.

The minister said it was important for farmers to embrace irrigation and produce more so that there was enough for the export market.

Reacting to concerns raised by the Grain Traders Association of Zambia, chairman, George Liacopoulos who advised Government to be consistent in formulation of policy and make the country attractive for investment.

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Ms.Siliya said there was need to produce enough food for the country and support for irrigation was going to be critical as the country would not be dependent on the rains and that would guarantee the consistency and sufficient production of food for the country and the export market.

She appealed to farmers to consider taking agriculture as a business.

“As Minister of Agriculture, I am committed to ensure that businesses thrive in the country. It is worrying that only about zero point six percent of the businesses registered at PACRA are agricultural related,” she said.

She hoped to see more businesses become agriculture-oriented and not just at farm level but also along the value chain.

She said her biggest objective was to get everyone in the agriculture business rich so that they could make money and contribute to the economic growth of the country.

She stated that unless people got rich from the agriculture sector, it would be difficulty to attract investment.