IAPRI BUDGET ANALYSIS

By HAPPY MULOLANI The Institute of Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) says the agricultural budget has declined by 25 percent due to the debt burden which is impacting on public spending. IAPRI Associate Researcher Auckland Kuteya says the cost of servicing debt in 2020 is higher resulting in reductions in allocations directed to different sectors of the economy. Mr. Kuteya asserts that what needs to be taken into account is “how to achieve more with less”. Mr. Kuteya said, “the President His Excellency President Edgar Lungu has acknowledged that agriculture is threatened by climate change, it is for this reason that the budget seeks to look at key drivers of the economy.” Currently, 97.9million has been allocated to extension services in order to support the adoption of climate smart agriculture practices. Mr Kuteya observes the need to re-think the timely release of funds to key drivers of the economy to effectively support and implement the key drivers of the economy. He noted that the delayed release of funds is an impediment to the implementation of activities as evidenced in the past year. Meanwhile, Mr Kuteya welcomes government’s restriction to only purchase 300 strategic food reserves to avoid gobbling a lot of allocated funds, noting that government’s spending on poverty reduction programmes such as FISP and FRA has not yielded positive results. He was speaking during a media breakfast budget analysis at Radisson Blu in Lusaka recently. The meeting drew stakeholders in the agricultural sector such as Millers Association of Zambia, Grain Traders Association, National Small-Scale farmers Association, Veterinary Association of Zambia, among others. And IAPRI Outreach Director Ballad Zulu says though limited funds were allocated to research, some strides have been scored with developing of hybrid varieties which are resilient to the negative effects of climate change. “For instance, cassava varieties at the time used to mature in three years but other varieties that have been developed through research maturing in six months have been developed. These varieties have contributed to improved food security among smallholder farmers”, said Mr. Zulu. Speaking at the same event, Millers Association of Zambia Andrew Chitala says the government needs to re-think how best the mealie meal situation is dealt with given the present dynamics of the economy in the country. The budget analysis comes in the wake of the 2020 budget presentation made by Finance Minister Dr Bwalya Ngandu in Parliament recently. Dr Ngandu unveiled the 2020 budget which reflects 52% personal emoluments to the civil service, 43% of loan repayments and 7% directed towards key drivers of the economy.