YOUTH FARMER LEADS IN FOOD SECURITY IN SHIWANG’ANDU DISTRICT

By HAPPY MULOLANI

In an effort to accelerate development in Zambia, the government embarked on creating districts across the ten provinces in the country in 2012. Once part of Chinsali district in Muchinga province, is Shiwang’andu district. It is one of the districts created with a view to actualise development through decentralizing operations in order to enhance development.

Shiwang’andu district is endowed with abundant arable land and perennial streams. The district is a predominately agricultural district as most rural households in the district, depend on agriculture production for their food security and income. Some of the crops grown include maize, beans, groundnuts and finger-millet as well as livestock and fish farming, among others.

According to the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), the development of the province is dependent on developing key sectors which include “agriculture, tourism and forestry”. The plan takes cognisant of the underlying potential the agricultural sector offers and that if fully exploited; it will contribute towards poverty alleviation in the province.

A closer look at agriculture production still reflects men dominance in most enterprises whereas women are relegated to supportive roles. Traditionally, men are known to be dominant in most agriculture enterprises while majority of women offer their labour exceeding that of men. This assertion resonates with FAO (2004) report which indicates that the contribution of women towards agricultural production and food production is significantly higher than that of men although women continue to be seen as passive players in agriculture production.

But this story is changing as a youth female farmer is actively engaged in agriculture production to improve household food security and increased income.

Florence Leya, aged 24 is a youth farmer in Shiwang’andu district. She is a mother of five children and has three dependents. Her vision has always been to become a successful farmer. As the adage goes a “journey of thousand miles begins with a single step”.  Leya opted to make use of her own farm which she presently lives on. She was confronted with family responsibility which left her with no option but to look around for job prospects in order to take care of her family. Her efforts of looking for job options to support her family proved futile, prompting her to undertake farming at an early stage in her life. She realized the only way to support her family was to make productive use of the land.

 “In 2016, I decided to embark on farming in order to realize my dream of being a successful farmer and as a source of livelihood. I cultivated small portions of land such as maize, groundnuts, finger-millet, cow peas and others. And I grew a lima each of every crop I planted out of my farm size of five hectares,” said Leya.

The harvest was not as much as she had expected. Later, she realized the need to join a farmer group to access benefits such as farming inputs and trainings meant to build capacity in small-scale farmers. She joined Chibesakunda cooperative society which offers both farming inputs and trainings. The core focus of the trainings is to empower farmers to take farming as a business. For Leya, this turned out to be an advantage because of the acquisition of inputs and trainings which has assisted her progress in agriculture production.

Over the years, cooperatives have become synonymous with fertilizer acquisition. But, for Leya, the story is different as it has empowered her with appropriate knowledge which has helped her to thrive in her agriculture activities.

“After joining Chibesakunda cooperative, I managed to acquire some fertilizer for my maize field, and with time my field has become bigger which I now supplement by buying additional fertilizer,” said Leya.

Interestingly, she appreciates undergoing trainings meant to capacity farmers which focus on taking farming as a business. This, she argues has diffused the notion of cooperatives being perceived as fertilizer entities. Instead, it has inculcated the values of not only growing maize but vital lessons of embarking on other high value crops with a high market demand. In turn, this has equipped farmers with appropriate skills on how to conduct market surveys to ascertain the demand for their crops.

Leya pointed out that through all the capacity building she undertook, it has enabled her to increase her area under cultivation.

“I now cultivate five hectares of a variety of crops. This year, I am expecting more than 800 bags by 50 kilogramme of maize,” said Leya.

She does not encounter any problems in selling her maize produce because of the demand for the commodity. Her preferred market of sale is the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).

Leya disclosed that she is not worried of any delays in payment because she grows a lot of maize and only sales part of it, while storing enough bags for home consumption and food security. She also does not rely on one buyer but sales to other potential buyers as long as the prices offered are reasonable.

Besides, growing maize on a large scale as a small-scale farmer, she also rears small livestock such as goats and village chickens to supplement her household incomes.

She argued that farming is all about strategically positioning oneself; this is why even the other crops grown such as groundnuts, fingermillet, sorghum among others, are not meant for sale but for household food security purposes.

In this way, she has been able to support her own family. Clearly, her involvement in agriculture production has been a source of empowerment and eased her responsibility burdens. A lesson drawn is the necessity to equip youths with key skills in their agriculture enterprises and build a critical mass of youths that enhances food security and increased incomes among rural households.

Leya’s success story in agriculture production is testimony of the gradual shift from male dominance to women participation. This configuration has necessitated increased female youth farmer participation after the acquisition of appropriate skills and capacity building in different agriculture enterprises in order to enhance household food security, nutrition and increased incomes.

Agriculture Minister Micheal Katambo emphasizes on the need for farmers to engage not only in maize, but also diversify into other crops to assure them of productivity through increased food security and increased incomes. This is in line with the Ministry of Agriculture’s goal of increased food and nutrition security and incomes among small-scale farmers.

Leya’s efforts clearly show how youths need to seriously take agriculture not only as an avenue which assures them of productivity but also as a profitable enterprise. This notion also reveals the necessity for youths to re-think focusing on white collar jobs and take advantage of the benefits of getting involved in agriculture production.