Zambia is food secure owing to Maize bumper harvest – ZCF

THE Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF) says the bumper harvest which the country recorded during the 2019/2020 farming season is a clear indication that it is food secure. ZCF Director General James Chirwa says this is attributed to good productivity by small scale farmers, who contributed 93% of the 3,387,469 metric tons maize produce recorded by nation. Mr. Chirwa explained that this year the agriculture sector has performed better than last season when the country produced 2,004,389 metric tons. “The over 3.3 million metric tons of bumper harvest recorded goes to show how much food secure the country is and how much passionate the small scale farmers are in contributing to the national food basket,” he noted.  ”Of the metric tons recorded, 93% was the contribution from small holder farmers and they need commendation from all stakeholders in this vital sector,” Mr. Chirwa said. He, however, said more needs to be done to improve household food security. Mr. Chirwa observed that there is still low crop yield among the registered 1.5 million farmers per hector, a thing he observed that should be quickly addressed. He suggested that climate smart agriculture or conservation farming is the only answer to improving crop yield, encouraging crop diversification and fighting stunting among the children. Maize production in the 2019/2020 farming season increased to 3,387,489 from last season’s 2,004,389 metric tons. Of the 1.5 million registered farmers in Zambia, one million are beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) with only 300,000 practising conservation farming or climate smart agriculture. – ZANIS. The Sun