International community renews commitment to rural people

The 173 Member States of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)  on December 19, 2014 reaffirmed their shared commitment to the Fund’s mission by announcing a US$1.44 billion target of contributions directed at investing in rural people in developing countries.

The target of IFAD’s 10^th Replenishment will enable it to strengthen operations over a three-year period from 2016 to 2018. During this timeframe, IFAD’s plan is to expand its reach to up to 130 million rural people, which represents as much as a 31 per cent increase of those benefitting from its investments.

IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze said that the strong endorsement by Member States comes at a critical time, enabling the Fund to be a key contributor to achieving the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be adopted in September 2015.

“The decisions we make today have profound implications, determining not just the shape of our future food systems but the shape of societies for decades to come,” Nwanze said. “Often rural areas are invisible and neglected but this commitment by Member States shows their belief in the role that small farmers play in creating a world without hunger.”

More than three-quarters of the world’s poorest people live in the rural areas of developing countries and depend mainly on agriculture to earn a living. Among the proposed SDGs, the second goal recognizes the importance of smallholder farmers in achieving food security through a doubling of their agricultural productivity and income.

Beyond the core contributions pledged by Member States, and with their support, IFAD will continue to mobilize and leverage additional resources to meet the growing demand for its services. These include sovereign borrowing from Members and cofinancing agreements with national governments, international donors and the private sector, contributing to IFAD’s overall programme of loans and grants that amounts to $3 billion over three years.

“It is through partnership that we can ensure that no region is forgotten and no person marginalized,” Nwanze said. “It is our best hope of feeding every person on the planet.”

IFAD is the only United Nations agency and international financial institution exclusively devoted to investing in rural areas and harnessing the potential of small farmers and other rural people to contribute to sustainable development. By working with governments, civil society, the private sector, and other partners, IFAD increases investments that are transforming rural areas economically and socially. Every three years, Member States replenish the resources that the Fund provides as concessional loans and grants to developing countries.

Barrick to Suspend Operations at Zambia Copper Mine on New 20-percent Royalty

Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX) announced Thursday morning that it will suspend operations at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia. The move follows the Zambian government’s decision to jack up royalties on open-pit mining operations in the country from 6 percent to a whopping 20 percent.
While changes to Zambia’s taxation regime will eliminate corporate income tax, Barrick has pointed out that the new rules will also slap a 20-percent gross royalty on revenue “without any consideration of profitability.” To be sure, operating the Lumwana mine under the new tax rules would be difficult for Barrick.
“The introduction of this royalty has left us with no choice but to initiate the process of suspending operations at Lumwana. Despite the progress we have made to reduce costs and improve efficiency at the mine, the economics of an operation such as Lumwana cannot support a 20 percent gross royalty, particularly in the current copper price environment,” Co-President Kelvin Dushnisky said in a statement.
Andy Lloyd, VP communications at Barrick, said that the company has been engaging with the Zambian government in recent months to share its concerns about the newly adopted royalty regime and its impact on the mine.
In a research note from Dundee Capital Markets, Josh Wolfson states that to account for the changes, Dundee would have reduced its valuation for the mine from a NPV of $110 million down to “a $675MM liability, and the asset would have been uneconomic to operate.” Furthermore, other comments from the analyst suggest that Lumwana was not the best-performing asset to begin with.
“Barrick operated Lumwana for 13 quarters, of which we estimate the asset materially consumed capital and generated only modest levels of free cash flow in only two quarters,” Wolfson said.
The company expects to record an impairment charge of $1 billion related to Lumwana with its fourth-quarter results for this year. It will implement major workforce reductions at the mine in March, and aims to transition the mine to care and maintenance by the second quarter of 2015.
Barrick also noted that the mine supports roughly 4,000 direct jobs in Zambia’s North-Western Province, as well as various community projects in areas such as education and health care.
“We sincerely regret the impact this will have on our people, as well as the communities and the businesses that depend on Lumwana, and we remain hopeful that the government will consider an alternative solution that will allow the mine to continue operating,” said Barrick Co-President Jim Gowans.
Lumwana is a “marginal, but large copper operation,” according to Wolfson. It produced 138 million pounds of copper in the first nine months of 2014, and held 6.6 billion pounds of copper reserves as of December 21, 2013.-copperinvestingnews.com

‘I was infected with HIV at 3 months’

Rose Mbewe

DOREEN NAWA
BEFORE clocking 10 years, she had undergone her first major operation; a lumbar puncture in Ndola. The first lumbar puncture operation was at the age of eight in 2000. Another was done when she was 11 in 2003.
All operations were done successfully at University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka and Ndola Central Hospital.
In the same year, she was diagnosed with HIV. Today, Rose Mbewe stands tall and openly speaks about her journey after being infected with AIDS at the age of 3 months.
This happened after she lost her mother in 1991 and because there was no options on how her mother’s family would sustain her, Rose’s grandmother decided to ask for a favour from her sister-in-law to breastfeed her following the demise of her mother.
“I was infected at 3 months by my grandmother’s sister-in-law who breast-fed me after my mother died. She didn’t know she was HIV-positive,” Rose says.
And because of her failing immune system she has had three tuberculosis infections. One in 1999, 2001 and 2006.
When she started taking anti-retroviral drugs at the age of 11, Rose says she devoted herself to building a future where she could mentor many adolescents facing similar situations like hers.
Rose was born HIV-negative on February 24, 1992 in Lusaka’s Chaisa Township. When she was three months old, her mother died of heart failure. Her grandmother’s sister-in-law offered to continue breastfeeding her, oblivious of her HIV status. The culture of breast-feeding other people’s children then was very common.
“I will forever remain grateful to the gesture that my grandmother’s sister-in-law showed by accepting to breastfeed me because had it not been for her, I would not have been here to tell this story,” she says.
Narrating her ordeal, Rose says she has gone through rejection because of her openness regarding her status.
Two years ago, Rose was dumped by her first boyfriend after disclosing her HIV status.
“I did the honest thing by disclosing my status to my boyfriend. We had been in a relationship for two years and because we were advancing and talking about marriage, I decided to disclose my status to him”.
“After telling him, he decided that he should tell his relatives too so that they do not hear it from outsiders,” Rose says.
His relatives did not approve of the relationship and so he decided to end the relationship.
“That was one of the painful moments in my life. I felt life was not worth living but my inner self told me not to give up,” Rose says.
Rose, who is an only child, did her education at Chaisa Primary School and later, Kasamba Secondary. She then proceeded and did a short course in computer studies.
“My mother had eight miscarriages before she had me and this I am told affected her life and dad’s. My dad died when mum was five months pregnant with me. Issues surrounding my mother’s miscarriages contributed to his death as there was too much friction in the family,” Rose says.
As if that was not enough, on October 5, 2013, Rose lost her grandmother, the only close relative she had after the death of her biological parents.
Fortunately for her though, her grandmother made sure she was well taken care off even in her death by ensuring that she was the sole beneficiary of her estate.
“I manage my grandmother’s few houses that are on rent and that is what is keeping me going. I have not found a job yet and I wholly rely on the rentals I collect for my upkeep, so I am well-taken care off in that area,” she says.
Considering that 2014 World AIDS day theme is Zero stigma, Rose says stigma is contributing to the high number of adolescents dying of AIDS because of failure to access treatment.
Currently, HIV prevalence in Zambia has not decreased among adolescents aged 15-19 between 2007 and 2012.
The global AIDS death toll fell to 30 percent between 2005 and 2012 but increased by 50 percent among adolescents, says a recent UNICEF report.
Furthermore, the UNICEF report indicates that in Zambia 4,400 adolescents died of AIDS in 2013 alone.
Alarmingly, adolescent HIV prevalence is highly gendered, with teen girls showing infection rates that UNAIDS calls ‘unacceptably high.’
Adolescents become sexually active, try drugs and alcohol, feel invulnerable, and experience the social and economic pressures of becoming an adult. HIV and the lack of youth-friendly health services compound the problem, says the UNICEF report.
For Rose, one reason for this shocking teen death toll is the low number of adolescents on antiretroviral treatment (ART).
Rejection by family and society or fear of rejection, according to Rose, prevents adolescents from seeking help.
Teenagers’ adherence to ART is lower than adults, says Rose “for a range of reasons like treatment fatigue, depression, fear of stigma, denial and unstable family relationships.”
One recommendation that Rose would love to see to fruition is the delivering of information about child protection and sexual and reproductive health services to teens living with HIV so they can make safe life choices and access care and support.
Today, despite being HIV positive, Rose is a proud and confident young woman who remains committed to speaking up on ills affecting other young people in accessing HIV treatment in her community.

Mwembeshi ART centre opened

DOREEN NAWA
LUSAKA Province permanent secretary Wamunyina Muwana is concerned that people are shunning antiretroviral therapy (ART) due to lack of proper health facilities.
Mr Muwana said most people want to access ART services in secure facilities that provide a sense of confidentiality to them.
Mr Muwana was speaking during the official handover of Mwembeshi ART centre in Chilanga on Thursday.
The ART centre was built by the Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) of Japan at the cost of US$760,000.
AAR Japan is a non-governmental organisation with an objective to extend emergency and long-term support to people in need of help.
Mr Muwana said there are many challenges in providing ART, including long distances that people are forced to travel to access the services.
“The challenge is that not all health facilities are able to provide ART and this means that people living with HIV have to go to other facilities which in many cases are situated far from their homes,” Mr Muwana said.
He said infrastructure is a big challenge that Government is facing.
And Japanese ambassador to Zambia  Kiyoshi Koinuma said the Mwembeshi centre was built to ease the challenges that people face in accessing ART.
Mr Koinuma said failure to access ART services has adverse effects on individuals and communities.
He appealed to residents to jealously guard the infrastructure for them to derive maximum benefits from it.
And Chilanga medical office ART coordinator Godfrey Zulu said Mwembeshi Health centre provides services to over 12,000 people and that 2,500 clients are on ART.
Mr Zulu said the facility will ease people’s access to ART in Mwembeshi.

Renewable energy partnerhip critical for African farmers

AFRICAN civil society at the climate talks in Lima, Peru, has identified renewable energy as key to stop deforestation and reduce poverty on the continent.

They therefore support the proposed Global Renewable Energy Partnership put forward by the African Group of Negotiators (AGN).

The proposal falls in line with the UN Secretary-General's sustainable energy for all initiative, launched in 2011.

“Our people do produce food but there is no value addition in the last 100years, so what we now need is to introduce energy so that at the smallholder farm level our people can add value to the products they produce,” said Robert Chimambo of Zambia Climate change Network.

He believes access to renewable energy would be critical to enable smallholder farmers add value at the farm-level for higher income earnings.

Mr. Chimambo was speaking at a press conference organized by the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) to outline demands of African civil society at the COP20.

“What we need in the context of climate change is resources to roll out small hydropower, solar and other renewable energy to reach the lowest of our farmers and our communities,” he noted.

The over-reliance on biomass, especially charcoal and firewood, puts pressure on Africa' forest resources.

In an interview, Mr. Chimambo noted that each country would need to find out the cost-effective way of delivering energy to smallholder framers and energy-deficient communities.

AFAP and IFA sign strategic MoU to improve Fertilizer markets

In efforts to improve Africa’s agricultural development and bridge the continent’s productivity gap, the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) and the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the 2014 IFA Strategic Forum held in Marrakesh, Morocco.
The MoU signed by Jason Scarpone, AFAP’s President and CEO, and Charlotte Hebebrand, IFA’s Director General, saw both organizations who specialize in fertilizer issues pledging to collaborate on issues aimed at facilitating and supporting African smallholders’ access to fertilizers on the continent. 
Scarpone said, “Agricultural productivity in Africa has become top priority in the continent as many leaders recognize the urgent need to pull millions out of extreme poverty.” He added, “There is no one magic solution reaching all of Africa’s development goals, and sustained partnerships with stakeholders across the fertilizer value chain are required if we are to make progress.”
 Patrick Heffer, Senior Director of Agriculture at IFA, who leads the Africa Forum, noted that “this strong partnership between our organizations will help speed up the improvement in fertilizer use that we are witnessing in Sub-Saharan Africa for a handful of years. It is only by working together that this trend can gain momentum, which is an essential building block of Africa’s agricultural development agenda”. 
Through the MoU, AFAP and IFA have pledged to collaborate on a number of joint activities to engage and support private and public sector initiatives to identify, enable and deliver improvements in the fertilizer value chain that will strengthen availability and the value-cost ratio of fertilizer for farmers. In addition, both organizations will act as intermediaries between the private and public sectors to ensure that the goals of all parties are being met and that an enabling environment is developed and maintained consistent with the objectives set forth in  the 2006 Abuja Declaration on Fertilizer to increase fertilizer use to 50kg per hectare across the continent. 
The two organizations are complementary. AFAP is an NGO established as part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) that develops fertilizer value chain systems to support smallholder farmers in increasing agricultural productivity. IFA brings together all actors of the fertilizer value chain around the world and runs product and nutrient stewardship programmes relevant to AFAP’s objectives. It also mobilizes interest from potential investors through its Africa Forum.   
IFA and AFAP have already been partnering in 2014 on the Smallholder’s Access to Fertilizers campaign, a call to African leaders to unlock fertilizer markets; and on the newly launched the African Fertilizer Volunteers’ Program, an initiative aimed at mobilizing global expertise in support of increasing smallholder fertilizer users and usage.
 The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) is an independent non-profit organization founded by a Partnership of African development organization. It works to establish more competitive and sustainable fertilizer markets in Africa and to contribute to an African Green Revolution. AFAP unites the expertise and dedication of the public and private sectors to increase fertilizer affordability and accessibility for African smallholder farmers. Using an innovative partnership contract, AFAP joins industry and development interests to inspire productivity, food security and prosperity in Africa.
The International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) is a trade association representing the global fertilizer industry, which provides the crop nutrients that allow farmers everywhere to meet the world's growing food, feed, fiber and bioenergy needs in a sustainable manner. IFA member companies represent all activities related to the production and distribution of every type of fertilizer, their raw materials and intermediates. IFA’s membership also includes organizations involved in agronomic research and training. IFA has some 550 members in about 86 countries.

GBV, major cause of divorce

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
AS the world is celebrating the sixteen days of activism against gender violence which runs from November 25 to December 10, the impact that gender-based violence (GBV) has had on children is deeper than one can think.
GBV which mostly leads to divorce or separation has affected many children.
For them, divorce can be stressful, sad, and confusing. At any age, kids may feel uncertain or angry at the prospect of mom and dad splitting up.
For 17-year-old Mailesi Banda of Lusaka’s Kalikiliki township, going through her parents’ divorce has changed her life completely.
Now a mother of one, Mailesi says she feels neglected and not being a child born from parents that loved their children.
“If mum and dad didn’t divorce, I was not going to have this child, I partly blame my parents for what I am going through now. Before the divorce, I enjoyed good life and life was so sweet with all our needs being taken care of, but the moment my parents divorced, trouble came into my life,” she said.
She narrates how her father used to beat her mother to a point of being hospitalised.
The worst moment for her was when her father, beat her mum until she fainted and the children ran outside screaming for help.
“My dad was more energetic than my mum and every time a fight ensued, mum will always be defeated. One day, I heard my mother telling a friend that dad’s drinking habits and late coming were getting out of hand and that every time she talked to him, dad would pick up a quarrel with mum,” Mailesi said.
It was after the divorce that Mailesi got pregnant, “I was 14, when my parents divorced and a year later I got pregnant because life was too hard for me, there was no one to take care of my needs. It was during this time that I engaged in a relationship which resulted into me getting pregnant.”
According Mailesi, helping children cope with divorce means providing stability in the home and attending to children’s needs with a reassuring, positive attitude is one thing that is lacking among many divorced parents.
And one of the Latkings Outreach Programme facilitator Fatima Chibamba said as a parent, it’s normal to feel uncertain about how to give your children the right support through your divorce or separation, but always
“divorce emanating from GBV or any misunderstandings should be dealt with very carefully and with the interest of the children at heart. All in all help your kids emerge from divorce feeling loved, confident, and strong,” Ms Chibamba said.
A staggering 40 percent of marriages are now doomed to end in divorce, despite the bad press: divorce is bad for your health, bad for your purse and particularly bad for your children, says Ms Chibamba.
“That is not to say that people should never divorce. Any couple locked in a violent relationship would be better off without each other. But for the vast majority of couples with children, divorce will bring a whole new set of problems and children are the most affected,” Ms Chibamba said.
And Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) senior counsellor, Ireen Nkunda said many couples who divorce later regret the decision all because of their own health and the well-being of their children.
“They truly regret and wish they would have been better off still married all because of the adverse impact that divorce has on children,” Ms Nkunda said.
A number of studies have shown that divorced people are more likely to contract chronic illnesses and die earlier than people who remain married.
She said women’s expectations of marriage have changed dramatically in the last two decades following the increased levels of GBV.
“If a marriage breaks down, the paradox is that women who are divorced are even more tied by children to the home – both economically and emotionally – than when they were married,” Ms Nkunda said.

COMESA, AFAP partner over fertiliser

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) have launched a joint programme to enable members in the region to increase supply and use of fertiliser among smallholder farmers.
The partnership is designed to develop agribusiness in rural areas.
In a statement to mark the launch of the joint fertiliser initiative, AFAP President Jason Scarpone said the goal of the cooperation is to enhance regional trade in fertiliser and food staples, food security and incomes by strengthening small and medium-scale enterprises that are essential for increasing competitiveness and integrating farmers into national, regional and international market to catalyse rural transformation.
This partnership will also strengthen the Eastern and Southern Africa Fertiliser Stakeholders’ Forum as an avenue for sustained dialogue between the public and private sector in catalysing the growth of fertiliser markets in the region.
This will be a landmark achievement that will spur COMESA’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
COMESA and AFAP have committed themselves to working together in establishing a fertiliser trade facility comprising a set of financial instruments through investments in medium-scale enterprises working along the fertiliser value chain.
“Fertiliser has been highly effective in increasing the quantity of food produced globally. It also holds enormous potential for improving human welfare by improving the quality of food for many Africans still living in Poverty,” said Mr Scarpone said.
Mr Scarpone said the partnership with COMESA is based on the organisation’s membership of over 19 countries and its co-mandate on trade facilitation in the region and AFAP’s commitment to facilitating a regional fertiliser trade facility.
And COMESA’s Secretary General, Sindiso Ngwenya said, “boosting private sector investment in fertiliser production, supply and use in the region is a major priority. The AFAP model in enhancing use and usage of fertiliser is a proven instrument for rural transformation.”

Family farming vital in addressing Africa's food security-NEPAD

DOREEN NAWA, Johannesburg.

THE role of family farming is crucial in addressing Africa's food security and job creating, says New Partnership for Africa's development (NEPAD) programme director, Estherine Fotabong.

Mrs Fotabong said it is obvious that without organising and strengthening family farming, it is impossible to transform agriculture in africa.

She was speaking on Monday during a three day meeting aimed at strengthening the ability of farmers' organisations to effectively  advocate for interests of family farming and small holder farmers in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"We are not only looking at family farming as a way of being food secure but also  as away of creating jobs and managing natural resources, and for this to become a reality, we need to strengthen our activities and take action now," she said.

Giving reference to the Malabo declaration which took place in June this year, Mrs Fotabong said there is need for farmers organisation to commit themselves to action oriented activities.

The Malabo declaration is a document that seeks to accelerate agricultural growth and transformation in Africa.

And Southern African confederation of agricultural unions (SACAU) president Theo de jager says global demand for food is projected to surpass population hence the need for family farming to take Center stage.

Dr de Jager said SACAU believes that agriculture can play a much bigger role in creating food secure and create employment.

"As Africa, we need to take pride in farming and make it more rewarding , profitable and competitive," Dr de Jager.

SACAU calls for youth involvement in agriculture transformation in Africa

DOREEN NAWA, JOHANESBURG

CLAIMS are made that Africa's farmers are getting older.

The blame is put on young people's decreasing interest in farm work, lack of skills and access to resources, but the trend is changing.

This is evidenced from the number of young farmers attending the 2014 Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) African Forum on Family Farming in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Young farmers from Madagscar, Mauritius, Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho are attending the three day forum.

And Southern African Confederation of African Unions (SACAU) president Theo de Jager says time is for young farmers voices to be heard and  showcase their innovative solutions to increasing agricultural productivity in Africa, taking into account factors like climate change, agricultural investment, access to credit, trade and market niches.

“SACAU is honoured to be the a co-host of the 2014 CAADP Africa Forum which is connected to the 2014 UN International Year of Family and the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security. This is a strong and necessary signal that the international community recognizes the important contribution of family farmers to world food security. The role of young farmers on the continent will be critical in achieving these goals,”  Dr de Jager said.

Dr de Jager said there is need to advocate for the involvement of young farmers in agriculture in Africa.

“Once the profession of agriculture has been elevated to the status and level it deserves, will also attract young people (including women) new energetic entrants capable of understanding the complexities of future food consumers. We are at the right place, at the right time – this is the world’s paradise when it comes to land and climate for agricultural production – but the questions remains – how soon can we do the right things for the prosperity of the sector, its people and Africa,” he said.

A young farmer from Balaka in Malawi, Bertina Spriano says farming is a business which can transform the lives of people on the continent.

“I am small holder farmer aged 34 but if I look back from the years I was not in farming, I truly regret, I would not have been where I am today. Form the time I started farming, I have not known poverty in my family,” says Ms Spriano.

According to Ms Spriano says in the past decade, young farmers were nowhere nearer for their voices to be heard across the continent but now the situation is changing.

“Governments have been channeling more resources into agriculture, pursuing the African Union’s goal of increasing public investment in agriculture to 10 per cent of national budgets per year. And as youths this is our time to associate ourselves with this sector,” she said.

In many areas, partnerships in agriculture are improving access to higher yielding seeds and fertilizers, improving soil fertility, strengthening technical training and boosting access to credit.

While agriculture and smallholder farmers in many African countries form the bedrock of the economy, the youth hold the keys to the continent's future.

Throughout the continent, young farmers playing a crucial role in the continent's economic growth by actively involving themselves into agriculture.

Another young farmer from Uganda, Elizabeth Nsimadala says while young people are a huge potential resource, many are migrating to cities in search of opportunities, leaving behind an increasingly ageing population.

“It is vital and ultimately beneficial for everyone to turn this trend around. Reality will quickly dim the bright lights of the city for this generation. But if young people stay on the farm, these upcoming smallholder farmers will be in the forefront of innovative, knowledge-intensive agriculture. Substantial and sustained investments focused on young farmers are essential to harness their energies and ambitions,” says Ms Nsimadala.

Clearly, it is time to look at poor smallholder farmers in a completely new way – not as charity cases but as people whose innovation, dynamism and hard work will bring prosperity to their communities and greater food security to the world in the decades ahead.

While Africa continues to face enormous challenges in reducing rural poverty, a vision of economic renaissance led by young smallholder farmers is beginning to take hold.

There is growing belief that Africa can produce enough not only to feed its own citizens but to export a growing surplus.
Africa can make a real contribution to ensuring food security for the world while also growing its economy and pulling its citizens out of poverty.

Boosting agriculture productivity with radio listening clubs

Florence Mzyeche

By DOREEN NAWA

FLORENCE Mzyeche is an inspiration to many women in her home village of Mphande, in Petauke because of her involvement in the radio listening clubs.

“It is difficult to make a living through farming in Petauke just like in many rural areas in the country,” she says.

But with Ms Mzyeche’s guidance, many women’s groups have found a way to cope with drought and high food prices by using new methods of farming.

 “How is it that I didn’t learn about this in time? If we had applied the new farming techniques that I have learnt through the radio listening clubs, I’m sure I wouldn’t be here telling you about my misadventures. What I mean to say is all the efforts that my family put forward three years ago failed,” says Ms Mzyeche.

“I am certainly not the only one to complain about the lack of knowledge concerning new farming techniques. The experience I had on my field three years ago might not be different from that of my neighbour. For me, the redeemer now is the Radio Listening Club where we meet and learn and share experiences on how best we can improve our yields,” Ms Mzyeche added.

While many rural farmers have limited access to information, radio reaches at least 70 percent of rural households countrywide.

Because small-scale farmers are often located in hard-to-reach rural areas, it is believed that radio is a cost-effective tool for reaching them.

For many rural Zambians, radio is a key channel of information. For small-scale farmers who have limited or no access to other media such as newspapers, television, or the Internet, radio is an essential part of their daily lives.

Mphande Villagers listening to a radio programme

In 2007, Panos Southern Africa (PSAf), a non-profit making organisation, established to stimulate public debate around development issues in Zambia and other countries in Southern Africa by providing relevant information, combined with other information and communication technologies (ICT), to fight poverty and food insecurity.

“We work in partnership with community radio stations in various districts, like in Petauke, we work with Petauke Explorer to increase the reach of agricultural information, enhance farmers’ participation and give farming families a voice.

Mr Elias Mthoniswa Banda, PSAf regional manager for media development and ICTs says, “Through our work, we have found that radio is the preferred source of not only agricultural information for the large majority of smallholder farmers but any information to the rural populace.”

Radio is a suitable and cost-effective tool for the dissemination of agriculture information because the data, which is usually transmitted in local languages, can be assimilated by those without formal education.

“Most importantly, radio, particularly when coupled with other ICT, such as mobile phones, can give voice to end-users through participatory radio programmes. Radio is an effective tool helping farmers to make informed decisions and supporting the adoption of innovative agricultural practices,” said Mr Banda.

Petauke Explorer station manager Patrick Phiri says as a result of their educational efforts, farmers have learnt conventional farming methods and are willing to invest in the correct application of fertilizers.

“They also know how to plant in rows with the right spacing, and the best ways to manage their farms. We can also see that post-harvest handling practices have also improved. Many farmers are testifying that they no longer store grain on the floor, but on raised platforms and this is as a result of the exchange of information through radio listening clubs,” Mr Phiri said.

Similarly, NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) the continental framework for transforming agriculture in Africa, places a high premium on the role of radio to reach farmers. 

CAADP is the African Union-NEPAD long-term framework to improve food security, nutrition, and increase incomes in Africa’s largely farming based economies.

Women of Mphande Village gather to share information after a radio programme

Acknowledging the fact that radio has a powerful role in distributing information on African agriculture, there is need for commitment to disseminate pertinent information to local communities by linking policy makers and researchers with farmers on the ground.

For the illiterate rural populace in particular, occasions for information exchange are usually during community festivals, family gatherings, traditional and religious associations, interaction with itinerant merchants and encounters at marketplaces or water wells.

However, these communities, women especially, are making use of radio listening clubs to ensure their own as well as their families' survival and. These clubs have created an environment of information exchange in rural communities.

The people in the countryside are also able to use radio listening clubs for leisure through the cultural, knowledge, customs exchange.

Women are usually active participants in the social communication networks. They use indigenous communication methods for information exchange, knowledge sharing and the dissemination of strategies for mutual assistance and survival.

It is the wish of the country as well as the continent to end hunger and reduce poverty by increasing agricultural productivity.

In June 2014 at the African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, African leaders voiced their commitment to prioritising agriculture in national development plans, ending hunger and cutting poverty in half by 2025.

In fact, ending hunger remains at the forefront of long-term global political priorities.

Ending hunger and cutting poverty especially in rural area is possible through innovation and information sharing, one of which is through the use of radio. (Story published on Oct 25, 2014 in the Zambia Daily Mail).