By FLAVIOR CHIAHALA  –
THE Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and the European Union (EU) have launched a project to construct four agriculture service centres worth 14.87million Euros.
ZNFU executive director Ndambo Ndambo said the centres that would be built in different parts of the country was aimed at benefiting 90,000  small scale farmers.
The districts that would benefit from the centres include Chibombo in  Central Province, Mpongwe on the Copperbelt, and Lundazi in Eastern as well as Mbala in Northern Province.
Mr Ndambo said the project would also support the feasibility study  for the establishment of a trading platform at Kasumbalesa on the  Zambian-DRC border.
Mr Ndambo said the aim of the project was to ignite and facilitate linkages and partner with the private sector so as to improve small-scale farmers’ access to reliable supply of fairly priced inputs and obtain competitive prices for their production.
He said this during a signing ceremony between ZNFU and European Union  under COMESA which was aimed at enabling farmers to access modern
marketing infrastructure and benefit from private sector players  adequate technical and advisory services.
Mr Ndambo noted that there was an urgent need for the small holder farmers to successfully transit from low productivity,
subsistence-based agriculture to more profitable, market-oriented farming systems.
“Most of our private sector players are unable to develop appropriate marketing infrastructure in farming areas due to a lack of long term capital financing, high business risks and unknown actual business potential.
”Therefore, these centres will improve commodity prices and reduce input cost as well as act as a catalyst for increased private sector  investments,” he said.
ZNFU has also embarked on innovative programmes such as the electronic market and price information service which is providing farmers and private sector with much-needed market intelligence.
At the same event, outgoing EU delegation leader Gilles Hervio, who is also representative to COMESA, said Zambia and the EU had decided to work together in energy, good governance and agriculture sectors over the next seven years.
Mr Hervio said that the role of Government was crucial in developing policies that would ensure infrastructure investments and finance  research as well as monitor the production.
He noted that Government had an important role to ensure that the private sector contributes to national development.