Economic diversification vital
Published On May 14, 2015 » 1336 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Opinion
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ECONOMIC diversification is critical to Zambia’s long-term development and, least of all, to end the heavy dependence on the minerals.
This diversification effort should be mounted at all levels, including within the sectors, by identifying products on which the country has a comparative advantage to produce.
There is no need to promote production of those raw materials or products which are comparatively costly and difficult to produce.
Diversification should be selective!
It is this selective diversification which will drive the local economy to greater heights and ensure mass production of non-traditional exports (NTEs) with a ready market.
For instance, in agriculture, there is need to lessen the dependence on and indiscriminate cultivation of maize.
Seemingly, maize has become synonymous with the sector, if not much more important than it.
As a result, while the country has been recording annual bumper harvests for maize, on other crops the productions have been going down, thereby hampering crop diversification.
This is so true for cotton which has been posting slumps in the last three years or so due to, among other factors, dwindling prices of the commodity on the international market.
The report that buyers this year project to increase their procurement of the crop from 130,000 tonnes of cotton from 95,000 tonnes procured last year, therefore, is heartening.
According to Zambia Cotton Ginners Association (ZCGA) executive secretary Bourne Chooka, the participating ginning companies have already distributed woolpacks to facilitate the picking of cotton by farmers.
In 2013/2014 farming season, cotton production went down to 95,000 tonnes from about 102,000 in the 2012/2013 season.
During the period, average yields were registered at less than 300 kilogrammes per hectare.
Generally, production of cotton in the country has been on the decline since the 2011/2012 season when it recorded the peak production of about 275,000 tonnes.
This was due to increased lint prices on the global market and high producer prices paid to farmers in the previous season.
The drastic slump in the prices of the commodity in the major cotton user, United States of America, led to the fall in the local prices.
This sent panic among the farmers some of who threatened to just burn down their crop because the prices then could not even enable them recoup the production costs, what with the loan they obtained from the ginners.
We, therefore, observe that the assurances by Mr Chooka of a lucrative trading environment in this year’s marketing season for farmers to get fair returns will re-invigorate them.
Admittedly, cotton prices are heavily influenced by prevailing international cotton lint prices on the world market.
The consolation, though, is that regardless of the international lint prices, cotton continues to be a profitable crop to farmers and earns the country the much-needed foreign currency through lint exports.
Locally, the way of raising demand for the crop is by reviving the textile industry in the country. This will further utilise locally-produced cotton and buoy the sector. This will help revamp the manufacturing sector while boosting agriculture.
While massive cotton production would be creating jobs and wealth among the rural dwellers, its usage by the textile industry would create jobs for the people in urban areas.
Generally, in this way, the much-talked-about value-addition of the local raw materials would be attained.
Zambia cannot continue depending on the external market for all its raw materials.
It has to induce the processing of raw materials locally while increasing the local consumption of the locally produced products.
This is the surest way of guaranteeing the market for local raw materials and products.

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