By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
ZAMBIA and Scotland have strong relations as evidenced by the developmental support the Scottish government continues to offer to the country, acting British High Commissioner to Zambia Lucy Joyce has said.
Ms Joyce said there was a strong link between Zambia and Scotland as well as a thriving Scottish community in Zambia.
Ms Joyce was speaking when the British High Commission in Lusaka celebrated St Andrew’s Day, the national day of Scotland, at an annual ball organised by the Lusaka and District Caledonian Society at Southern Sun Hotel at the weekend.
This is according to a statement issued by the British High Commission yesterday.
“There is a thriving Scottish community in Zambia, and strong links between Scotland and Zambia. There is a growing community of Zambians who have studied at Scottish universities, many of whom have come back and now hold key positions in the public and private sectors,” she said.
She was pleased that Scotland was supporting various developmental projects in Zambia, as a complement to the large programme managed by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
She gave an example of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF)’s Kulima Programme in Lusaka, which was working through the local Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre to help 1,350 small-holder farmers to improve food production, and the amount of food they produced for their families using organic methods.
The SCIAF received £2.7 million from the International Development Fund to deliver two projects in Zambia aimed at helping farmers increase food production between 2008 and 2015, the Promoting Rural Food Security Programme of the period 2008-2012 and the Kulima Programme, 2012–2015.
She said the Scottish government’s External Affairs and International Development Minister, Humza Yousaf visited Zambia in 2014 to welcome the arrival of the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton and visit Scottish-funded development projects.
Ms Joyce said St Andrews Day was the day that the world celebrated the best of Scotland, and all that the land and its people had contributed to the world.
It was a day to celebrate Scotland’s history and heritage, a country rich in thriving contemporary culture, creativity and commerce and home to some of the world’s most beautiful scenery.
In Scotland, St Andrews Day is celebrated on November 30 each year.
The Saltire is the national flag of Scotland and, with a white diagonal cross with a blue background.
St Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross.