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.

MITIGATION MEASURES AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

By HAPPY MULOLANI Climate change is a phenomenon which continues to ravage productive sectors in many countries. In Zambia, agriculture is a key sector which generates 22 percent of gross domestic product and provides livelihoods for over 50% of the country’s population. The sector has been prioritised through the Seventh National Development (7NDP) to increase food production by increasing productivity and nutrition at household level in order to foster the country’s economic growth. The major concern lies in the fact that this year’s drought is the worst ever experienced in 35years as it has affected over 11million people in nine countries including Zambia, which now require food support. What is worrisome is that climate change is not a problem for the future but now. Presently, it is putting a strain on households and rural farmers level of food security and incomes. Clearly, climate change requires an immediate panacea to mitigate its effects particularly of rural farmers and households. Government through one of its agribusiness intervention programme which is assisting rural farmers in building capacity and developing their business acumen is the Enhanced Smallholder Agribusiness Promotion Programme (E-SAPP). The programme is co-financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), partnered with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in assessing climatic vulnerability with specific focus on the historic and present trends of the country. CIAT works to increase prosperity and improve human nutrition through research based interventions in agriculture and the environment. This positions CIAT at an advantage as it works towards assisting in investment planning for resilient agriculture and leveraging of markets through improved productivity and competitiveness (CIAT Africa Factsheet, 2019). CIAT and E-SAPP partnership will ultimately strengthen the agribusiness intervention, given that E-SAPP supports 61,000 smallholder farmers in all ten provinces, focusing on four commodities of focus which include livestock, rice, crops and aquaculture. E-SAPP Acting Programme Coordinator Emmanuel Mulenga emphasizes that the programme’s first component is to promote growth for beneficiary farmers to effectively participate in the value chain, under the National Development Agribusiness intervention for the country. Mr Mulenga says given the agribusiness acumen the farmers are suppose to develop through the programme’s interventions, efforts in assessment of climate change becomes relevant to deal with in order to avoid farmers losing their investment. In this way, the target farmers will be appropriately supported in their commodities of focus. CIAT Scientist Caroline Mwongera explains the need to re-think ways in which farmers situated in different contexts require suitable interventions peculiar to their area, particularly assess the risk level of farmers’ agriculture production. This presents an opportunity for key players and experts to come up with adaptive measures once the most prone areas are identified. Ms Mwongera says to come up with appropriate adaptive measures to assist rural farmers, for a programme like E-SAPP, it becomes apparent to look at value chains for different crops the programme is supporting. This is because every commodity of focus within the value chain has varying advantages amidst climate change. And CIAT Country Representative Joseph Mulambu highlights that cultural barriers is one of the concerns which tends to pose difficulties in communities progressing in their enterprises. In view of this, looking at the vulnerability map becomes key because it provides a basis where, and what type of support is required in specific areas. Recently, IFAD released US$12million to assist rural small-scale farmers in adapting to climate change and reduce green house gas emissions. IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo explained that the Swedish government, which is one of the cooperating partners of IFAD, availed the funds to effectively implement and contribute towards reducing climatic changes. Mr Houngbo explained the severe climatic conditions triggered the release of the funds as the point of realization is that fighting the effects of climate change of households and incomes of rural farmers requires finance and concerted efforts to come up with adaptive measures. “Investment is needed to enable rural people to take adaptation actions and also to realize their potential contribution to mitigating impacts of climate change,” says Mr Houngbo. More importantly, financing towards climate change is a milestone given that it is impacting on poverty and hunger of rural households and farmers. Clearly, finance is one of the catalysts needed to combat climate change, as it will also enable farmers to adapt and become resilient to climatic shocks. A pragmatic approach towards supporting rural farmers in the different categories the programme is supporting is required. In particular, support and expertise needs to be directed towards devising mechanisms aimed at improving productivity within a competitive environment.

EMPOWERING FARMERS WITH CLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATION

By HAPPY MULOLANI Climate change is a phenomenon which is likely to affect productive sectors in Zambia such as agriculture. If no proper mechanisms are enforced to properly tackle its effects, climate change may affect food security and incomes of small-scale farmers in the country. Such concerns have resulted in development partners coming up with initiatives aimed at mitigating climatic conditions likely to impact on farmers’ investments and the country’s food security levels. Recently, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) released US$12million to assist rural small-scale farmers in adapting to climate change and reduce green house gas emissions. IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo explained that the Swedish government, which is one of the cooperating partners of IFAD, made available the funds to effectively implement and contribute towards reducing climatic changes. This financing comes in the wake of the worst ever drought experienced in 35 years. This drought has hit over 11million people in nine countries needing food support, of which Zambia is no exception. What is eminent is that climate change is not a problem for the future but is happening now as it is already affecting households and incomes of rural farmers. The financing towards climate change is a milestone given that it impacts on poverty and hunger. “Investment is needed to enable rural people to take adaptation actions and also to realize their potential contribution to mitigating impacts of climate change,” says Mr Houngbo. Clearly, financing towards climate change is one of the catalysts which should enable farmers to adapt and become resilient to climatic shocks. But, financing alone without appropriate information may not help small-scale farmers achieve food security and incomes, hence the necessity for further initiatives to enable farmers’ access up-to-date weather information should be a priority in order for them to make informed decisions as they embark on their various agriculture enterprises. This is in tandem with the recently launched weather phone application (app) called CROPWIS developed by the University of Zambia in partnership with the College of Agriculture of Makerere University and University of California. The app has the ability to predict weather forecast and real-time satellite meteorology for farmers. University of Zambia Vice-Chancellor Professor Luke Mumba observes developing such an application is an exceptional innovation meant to assist farmers to make informed decisions in light of their agriculture production given the climate change phenomenon and weather variability. Prof Mumba highlights the importance of the app amidst the unpredictable rainfall. Suffice to state that the app positions farmers to make right decisions especially during the planting season. Therefore, it is an opportune time for researchers to increase their level of research if agricultural development is to be enhanced given that; the agriculture sector is one of the key drivers of the country. Makerere University Principal Investigator John Wasige says the beauty of the app is that it predicts weather conditions in particular areas unlike generalized results. Dr Wasige explains that the app provides precise results for a specific area. This is the more reason why one needs to localize the search through the use of Global Positioning System (GPS). The app is certainly a “game changer” in detecting the varying weather conditions which better places farmers to plan accordingly in their agriculture production. University of Zambia Principal Investigator Dr Langa Tembo reveals that the app has a 90 percent degree of accuracy. Interestingly, the app can be accessed through play store on Android phones and installed through the outlined instructions. It is worth noting that though, the app can be used for other purposes such as outdoor events, the focus for now is to assist farmers have foresight in their agriculture endeavours. Close collaboration of universities is key in ensuring the development of initiatives which contributes to the economic status of farmers and the country, a notion Dean of School of Agricultural Sciences Dr Benson Chishala reaffirms. The app project is sponsored by United States Agency International Development (USAID) and the National Academy of Science (NAS) of the United States Government and other cooperating partners. In the recent past, the effects of climate change, variations of weather patterns and poor access to information have been a source of worry which tends to affect farmers agriculture production. But, with a different approach of building partnerships in coming up with exceptional innovations such as this app, will equip farmers with relevant weather information. As the adage goes “information is power”, weather information through this app will greatly contribute towards farmers orchestrating a mechanism to enable them to make informed decisions in their agriculture production.

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