. Monde

By CHILA NAMAIKO –
GOVERNMENT has called on skills training institutions with abundant undeveloped land to consider utilising part of it for viable income generating projects.
Agriculture and Livestock Deputy Minister Greyford Monde said institutions should not wholly depend on funding from Government but should also sustain themselves through productive projects.
Mr Monde cited the Zambia College of Agriculture (ZCA) in Monze District which had about 1,000 hectares of land, most of which was lying idle and undeveloped.
He was speaking in an interview on Thursday shortly after attending the 63rd ZCA graduation ceremony.
“As Government, we are challenging these institutions like ZCA sitting on idle pieces of land to be self-sustaining by venturing into other viable projects.
“They can look for private-partners and make part of the idle land like this 1,000 hectares ZCA land for income generating projects,” he said.
Mr Monde said, although Government was giving out grants to institutions such as ZCA, there was need for them to come up with more productive income generating projects.
The minister, however, said Government was aware of the many challenges facing skills training institutions and was doing everything possible to address their needs.
He urged the graduating students to be proactive by using their acquired skills to help Government continue developing the agriculture sector.
Mr Monde said agriculture was one of the thriving economic sectors in Zambia which was significant in improving the living standards of people.