By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
THE National Union for Small Scale Farmers of Zambia (NUSFAZ) has urged the need to provide incentives that will promote production of wheat among the smallholder farmers.
National Union for Small Scale Farmers of Zambia (NUSFAZ) director general Frank Kayula said it was important for Government to spearhead the promotion of crop diversification by providing irrigation facilities that would enable the farmers get involved in wheat production.
Recently, the Government announced that the country would run out of wheat by the end of March hence arrangement have been made to pave way for imports of wheat.
The government has allowed the importation of 75,000 tonnes of wheat and removed a 15 per cent duty on non Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) wheat.
In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Kayula said this offers an opportunity for farmers to grow more wheat to satisfy both the local and export markets.
He said this can only be done by ensuring that adequate support was given to the small scale farmers to facilitate the production of wheat.
“Yes we strongly feel that the Government should promote crop diversification and provide appropriate incentives such as irrigation facilities to enable the small scale farmers to get into wheat production.
It is important for the Government to use the World Bank irrigation funds to support crop diversification and wheat production,” he said.
The growth of wheat industry has without doubt contributed positively to the economy through employment creation at various levels of the value chain.
Wheat is one of the few success stories out of Zambian agriculture having evolved from zero production in early 1970s to surplus production status in 2011.
Wheat production has risen to reach 338,000 tonnes per year against the national consumption requirements of 310,000 tonnes per year.
On the maize, Mr Kayula commended the Government for offloading the one million tonnes of maize from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) onto the market.
He said this would help to manage the maize storage facilities and create room for the new crop.