Transforming Africa’s agriculture key to improved livelihoods

By DOREEN NAWA
The 23rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government is underway this week in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea with the theme, “transforming Africa’s agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods, through harnessing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development.”

Today, African Union Commission Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, Commissioner, H.E Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, engaged with the media and discussed building self-reliance towards the realization of the 2063 agenda on food and nutrition security and the theme of the Summit.

The Summit is also significant as it is also being held in the 2014 AU Year of Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security and the commemoration of the 10 year anniversary since the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) was adopted.

It is expected that the AU Leaders will commit to the resolutions endorsing seven Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation Goals (3AGTGs) for 2025 that were adopted by the AU Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture meeting, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 1^st to 2^nd May 2014.

The joint conference recommended among other things the need to enhance Public-Private Partnerships and Investment Financing for African Agriculture and called on stakeholders to establish and/or strengthen inclusive public-private partnerships for at least five (5) priority agricultural commodity value chains with a strong linkage to smallholder agriculture and to strengthen the capacities of domestic apex private sector intermediary institutions for inclusive facilitation and coordination to ensure engagement of the private sector in CAADP implementation.

Briefing the press, Mrs. Tumusiime said the AU is determined to ensure that agricultural transformation is driven by its citizens as the continental body’s aspirations is to have a food and nutrition secure and poverty free citizenry that is prosperous.

“Africa needs sustainable transformation and inclusiveness through agriculture to benefit both the present and future generations, it also requires more innovative technologies, public and private investment to be able to mobilise resources for inter-Africa trade”, she said.

She further informed the media that building resilience to reduce vulnerability of Africa’s citizens is one of the key components of Africa Agenda 2063,”A shared Strategic Framework for inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development,” which also targets the most vulnerable in society, like women, children and youth.

The Commissioner highlighted the agricultural transformation has been taking place as a result of CAADP implementation and said, “in recognition of the instrumentality and the added value that CAADP has been demonstrating over the last decade of experience, the recommitment to the principles and values of CAADP and sustaining the momentum is of paramount importance.”

Climate Change:Threat to food security in SADC region

By DOREEN NAWA

CLIMATE Change is a source of threat to food security to communities in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, Malawi’s ministry of Information and Civic education permanent secretary Lucky Sikwese has said.

Mr Sikwese  said the threat ranges from irregular rainfall patterns, scarcity of natural resources, and fight over access to resources, internal displacement to forced migration.

“All these threats more often than may culminate into a threat on human health, I am glad that SADC has brought the media on board in addressing climate change. Climate change is now emerging as a key development issue for Africa and we therefore cannot afford to relegate it on our development agenda,” Mr Sikwese said.

Mr Sikwese said climate change is a new phenomenon that has generated a lot of interest from various stakeholders.

He said the phenomenon has brought with it a new dimension to the development agenda which includes financing strategies and mechanisms and business models that foster sustainable development for economies, increasing opportunities for growth for the disadvantaged.

Mr Sikwese was speaking in Lilongwe at the opening of the SADC Media sensitization workshop on Climate Change and entrepreneurship reporting recently.

He said the SADC region must enlist the help of the media to effectively communicate the region’s efforts to respond to challenges imposed by climate change.

He said the media as media personnel are well positioned to disseminate information and in turn influence opinions of your audiences thereby fostering a sense of personal responsibility and greater motivation and commitment towards sustainable development.

He said Africa’s climate change vulnerability is deepening, making it the most vulnerable region in the world to the impacts of climate change hence the need to be innovative and treat it with vigilance.

Mr Sikwese said the media must maximize their role as agenda setters and opinion influencers in addressing issues of climate change in the region.

He has since pledged support and partnership as the SADC secretariat in working with the media in addressing climate change issues.

“It is it is my sincere hope that the SADC secretariat’s partnership with you, will help harness communication efforts aimed at not only creating awareness of the challenges brought about by climate change but also underlying opportunities that may the arise in the wake of adverse climate conditions.

He has since called on the media in the region to ensure that their reporting dairies include ideas on establishing the link between climate change and the positive aspects that come with changing climatic conditions.

And lead consultant Batisani Munyaradzi said agriculture sector is one of the major contributors to the effects of climate change giving an example of the use of fertilizers as one of the practices that has an adverse effects on climate.

“Agriculture is not as innocent as we think, look at the use of fertilizers in agriculture, it has nitrogen which contributes to polluting the air,” Dr Munyaradzi said.

Zambia's food insecurity and under nutrition still rising- CSO

By DOREEN NAWA
Zambia risks losing out on the anticipated increased investment destined for the African Agricultural sector if the country does not undertake specific measures to unlock economic structures that are currently impeding growth of the industry, says Civil Society Organisations.

The CSOs said growth in Agriculture represents a huge untapped economic opportunity in Zambia, which has over 70 per cent of people being employed in the sector currently.

And studies across Africa have also shown that growth in the agriculture sector is more inclusive and has the potential of reducing poverty 11 times faster than growth in other sectors.

2014 is the 11^th year since Zambia signed the African Union Maputo declaration on Agriculture and Food Security that entails member states commitment to Agriculture spending and promoting annual growth in the sector of 6%.

Zambia’s Agriculture spending has been on average six per cent between 2003 and 2013, which is far below the Maputo Declaration. Even with the current spending, concerns have been raised on the fact that Zambia is spending largely on the Farmer Input support programme (FISP) and the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) at expense of other critical interventions such as extension services and training, research, technology and infrastructure.

Today, 18^th June 2014, Government leaders, Civil Society organizations, Farmers, Private sector and Development partners held a meeting in Lusaka to discuss how to revitalise the Agriculture agenda in  2014, which is the African Union year of Agriculture and food security.

The one day high level policy forum on Agriculture has been jointly convened by the Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD), ONE , Civil Society-Scaling up Nutrition (CSO-SUN), Agriculture Consultative Forum (ACF), Indaba Agriculture policy research Institute (IAPRI), Platform for Social protection Zambia (PSP- Zambia) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL).

The meeting, where Vice President Guy Scott and Agriculture Minister Wilbur Simuusa are expected to officiate, will commit to a set of principles, policies and strategies to identify the priority interventions required to boost smallholder farmers and to develop the agriculture value chain in Zambia’s year of agriculture through the development of a national programme of action for Agriculture for the year 2014.

It is also expected that outcomes of this high level policy forum on Agriculture would be used to inform and give stakeholder backing to Zambia’s political commitments in the Agricultural sector at the up-coming AU Heads of State Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea which will decide on new commitments to enforce the Maputo Declaration and CAADP framework to realise its goals on food security, growth and employment creation.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Centre for Trade Policy and Development Executive Director Isabel Mukelabai said this was an opportunity for Zambia to diversify from being a mono-economy primarily dependant on copper exports to a broader economy that places Agriculture at the centre stage of initiatives to drive inclusive economic growth that would impact on the majority poor.

“Since the AU 2003 Maputo declaration on Food Security and Agriculture was signed, Zambia has made notable efforts to reform agriculture and address hunger as well as food insecurity, however, vulnerabilities still exist. This is because most of the Agricultural production in Zambia is currently at subsistence level and remains highly untapped in terms of its potential to drive the economy,” Mukelabai said. “To change this picture, Government needs to undertake specific measures to diversify the Agriculture sector by changing the economic structures that underpin agriculture so that it is unlocked to not only address food insecurities but also attract investment to drive growth, expand economic opportunities such as enhanced agricultural trade and address under nutrition.” She further explained that Zambia has potential to set the pace for economic growth through Agriculture in the Africa region if correct priorities in the Agriculture sector are set but also actually implemented. The Ministry of Finance has commenced the preparations of the 2015 national budget and 2015-2017 MTEF and this provides a ripe opportunity to ensure that key priorities in the Agriculture sector can be set. We would like to see more attention and budgetary allocations being made to support extension service provisioning to small holder farmers, research and technological improvements within the sector and not just FISP. We would also like to see Government taking firm steps to address current challenges in the agricultural value chain and improve the implementation of the agri-business strategies” she said.

And CSO-SUN country coordinator William Chilufya urged Government to establish a framework to be derived from expected outcomes at the forum.

“Africa is rising as the number one investment destination in the world, and there are immense social and economic opportunities that can be derived from Agriculture especially if it is made nutrition sensitive so Zambia stands to benefit now and in the future if an effective framework to transform agriculture and negotiate better contractual terms with investors is put in place,” said Chilufya.

And Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda says government has recognised that agriculture has the potential to drive the economy of Zambia.

“If developed to its fullest potential, the Agriculture sector will not only ensure national food security but will create the much needed jobs and earn the country foreign exchange through exports of food and other agro products, this is why we are putting in place a range of policies to support the productivity and profitability of agriculture,” said Chikwanda.

Defilements in Petauke, Eastern Zambia blamed on sex boosters

By DOREEN NAWA
STATISTICS show that defilement cases among male juveniles in Petauke are rife due to rampant use of sex boosters, it has been learnt.
Boys use sexual enhancers locally known as mvubwe, District Social Welfare officer Yoram Kaziya has said.

Mvubwe is sold openly in Petauke and other districts in the Eastern Province.
In the first quarter of this year (2014), the Social Welfare department in the district recorded 17 juvenile cases and these included defilement, burglary and theft, assault occasioning bodily harm (AOBH) and indecent assault.
Other cases were rape and stock theft.
Mr Kaziya said the Department of Social Welfare in the district has in the last few years dealt with cases of male juveniles defiling fellow juveniles.
“The cases of juveniles facing defilement cases are very rife in the district. We engage these offenders and they confess that they buy mvubwe and use it.  All of them told us that once they used the sexual enhancer and it works, then they would know where to go,” he said during a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting organised by the Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf) in Petauke recently.
He said the increase in juveniles using sexual enhancers is because of cultural beliefs.
He also said that major challenges that communities face in the district include increasing levels of poverty, bad cultural practices, high illiteracy rates, low levels of community participation in development programmes, youth unemployment and gender imbalance in the ownership of means of wealth creation such as land and finances.
Mr Kaziya said these challenges impact negatively on the lives of children.
And Chief Nyamphande of Petauke district is concerned about the high number of juvenile pregnancies.
“Issues of early marriages and juvenile pregnancies are rampant in my area and the district as a whole,” Chief Nyamphande said.
He urged parents to stop forcing their children into early marriages as doing so could result in dire consequences.
“Parents who marry off their girl children at a tender age should be charged and punished so that the trend is put to a halt.  We also need to emphasise the need to educate young girls so they can attain their aspirations,” he said.
It is unlawful to get into marriage below the age of 21, but some girls are married off when they are as young as 13.
Getting reliable data on child marriages is difficult, but estimates show that almost half of Zambian women are married by the age of 18, one of the highest prevalence rates in the world.
Eastern Province has Zambia’s highest rate of girls married off before the age of 18. The rate is pegged at 50 percent.

Kids spend night in cold

By DOREEN NAWA
SOME abandoned children are spending nights in the cold at Petauke Police Station, Eastern Zambia.
A check at the Police station found children aged between 2 and 16 sitting outside the police station waiting to be identified or relocated to safer places.

“I can give these children food or clothes but not taking them to go and sleep at my home because it is not allowed in our ethics,” one police officer said.
According to sources at the station, children are sometimes taken to Kachele Transit Home, which is operated by Community Youth Concern (CYC).
CYC is a non-governmental organisation that supports the welfare of youths.
And Kachele Transit Home co-ordinator Diana Lungu said the transit house does not have enough room to accommodate any more children.
Ms Lungu said the home is not well-funded and lacks basic needs for children below the age of 5.
“The Kachele Transit Home has 37 girls and 18 boys and this number alone is a challenge. I cannot imagine more children as they would just suffer here too,” Ms Lungu said.

Zambia praised for lifting maize export ban

By DOREEN NAWA
THE Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) has commended Government for its decision to lift the export ban on maize on the back of  this year’s bumper maize harvest.

CTPD executive director, Isabel Mukelabai said Government’s decision to lift the export ban on maize should be encourage in order to expand trade in the agricultural sector.
“Despite the good harvest also projected in some neighboring countries, CTPD also understands that the prospects for exporting Zambia’s surplus remain reasonable, given the fall in the exchange rate and available deficit markets in the region,” Ms Mukelabai said.
Currently Zambia’s agriculture sector contributes about 20 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) , 35 percent to Non-traditional exports and 70% to national employment. The agriculture sector is also key for poverty reduction as its potential for reducing poverty has been shown to be 11 times greater than the potential in other sectors.
Ms Mukelabai said Zambia has potential to become a food basket within the region and therefore attention must be paid to ensure that this potential can be unlocked by encouraging private sector participation not just in crop production but in the entire agriculture value chain.
Zambia operates within a liberalized economy and as such an open border policy is highly encouraged and is the way to go and promote growth in the economy through the Agricultural sector.
CTPD sees the case for using export ban on the basis  of ensuring food security  in Zambia as the last resort.
Ms Mukelabai said the  recent practice of using export bans is too ad hoc and lacks transparency because exporters are not given sufficient warning of the conditions under which such bans will be use and this deters investment and  inhibits growth in the sector. 
“CTPD therefore encourages Government through the Ministry of Agriculture to work towards developing a clear regulatory mechanism for maize exports that is transparent and accountable, one that will be more predictable, based on agreed parameters between Government and key stakeholders, including the private sector,” Ms Mukelabai said.

Weakening family ties worry chief

By DOREEN NAWA
THE family structure in the country keeps weakening and this is putting the lives of children at risk, Chief Nyamphande of Petauke has said.
Chief Nyamphande said very few families in the country have the interests of children at heart.
Chief Nyamphande appealed to families countrywide to invest in children and to safeguard their future.
The chief was speaking at a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting organised by the Panos Institute Southern Africa here yesterday.
Chief Nyamphande said issues of children are of paramount importance in the development of any society.
“As families, it is our duty as parents to ensure that we invest in children and safeguard their interests, but regrettably today, family structures have weakened so much that it has even affected the security of our children,” Chief Nyamphande said.
He said parental guidance is a vital component in raising children.
“Issues of generating income have taken centre-stage; parents are too busy engaging in income generating activities forgetting that their children need parental guidance. Children do not choose which family to be born from.
“It is the parents that lead children into situations they find themselves in because of the failure to unite with them and invest in their interests,” Chief Nyamphande said.
And Petauke district commissioner Velenasi Moyo said child marriages are rampant in Petauke due to bad traditional practices and disintegrated family systems.
In a speech read for her by Petauke district HIV/AIDS coordinating advisor, Martin Chishimba, Ms Moyo said children in Petauke are subjected to early marriages hence the need to promote child rights.
”Children are the future of our country but the situation here in Petauke is depressing. Early marriages and child labour is rampant and the lives of children are at risk,” Ms Moyo a said.

Challenges of accessing ARVS in rural areas

By DOREEN NAWA
ALL the love, trust and dedication to a relationship suddenly vanished for Dorothy Chiwele sometime in 2004 after she discovered she was HIV-positive. This happened during medical examinations following an illness she had suffered.
“I was happily married and I was faithful to my husband. I never had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) before,” said Ms Chiwele, 52, of Choma.
“When I got to the hospital, I was shocked to be told that I was HIV-positive. Today no one can be sure about anything. The best is to immediately accept your status and move on,” said Ms Chiwele, a widow.
Ms Chiwele was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2004 and she immediately joined the Chikuni Parish Home-Based Care (HBC). She lives in Michelo area, about 45km south of Chikuni Mission.
She receives antiretroviral therapy (ART) from Chikuni Mission Hospital which is 90km from her home. 
Ms Chiwele is not alone, there are many women and children in her area who are living with HIV. “It is not easy for me and other women and children living with the virus to get to Chikuni Mission Hospital.”
 “I leave home a day before, in the afternoon. Before I leave, I have to prepare food for my four children and three grandchildren which they need to eat while I am away. And I carry a bit of food to cook for myself on the way,” Ms Chiwele said.
She walks until nightfall, then stops over at a friend’s place to pass the night. Her journey resumes in the early hours of the following day and she makes sure to arrive before the hospital opens at 8:00 hours.
If she gets attended to on time, Ms Chiwele starts off for home the same day.
But if she is late and finds a long queue, it means she cannot leave the hospital until about 15:00 hours. She then has to spend a night at a friend’s place and proceed home the following morning.
“When time to go to Chikuni Mission Hospital comes, I always worry about my travelling alone because I might be attacked on the way. I also worry about my children because I leave them without adult care,” Ms Chiwele said.
When she has money for a bicycle ride, she has to leave home at 02:00 hours am in order to reach Chikuni Mission Hospital in good time.  
A bicycle ride costs K20 one way, and K40 for a return trip.
Ms Chiwele lost her husband in 2001, before ART was rolled out in public hospitals.
Today, ARVs are free for anyone who needs them, but accessibility is a challenge for people in rural areas.
“The supply of ARVs that we get is supposed to last 4 months, or 6 months during the rainy season.  However, sometimes there are drug shortages. In order to ensure that everyone has drugs, the pharmacy at Chikuni Mission Hospital may only give us enough drugs for one month, so I have to go back the following month,” Ms Chiwele said.
Ms Chiwele takes her medicine at 08:00 hours every morning and adherence is easy with the help of daily reminders on Chikuni Community Radio. In case she forgets or does not listen to the radio, her children remind her to take her medicine.
She is happy to receive ART for free, but wishes accessibility could be made easier. Despite the long distance to the health centre, Ms Chiwele is dedicated to ART because she knows how important treatment is to her health. 
 “We have many challenges in accessing ARVs in rural areas. I am aging and walking on a long distance affects my wellbeing. It would be better if the supply of ARVs was decentralised,” she said.
The biggest challenge for people living with HIV in rural areas is the routine need for a refill of ARVs.
Policy-makers, health workers and communities have come to appreciate the need to address bottlenecks surrounding ART in order to improve people’s adherence to treatment. 
National AIDS Council (NAC) director of programmes Harold Witola said decentralisation of ART to primary healthcare centres in rural areas could reduce congestion and improve access to treatment.
“One strategy is to move antiretroviral delivery from hospitals to more peripheral health facilities or even beyond health facilities. This could increase access to care, improve health outcomes, and enhance retention in treatment programmes.
 “Decentralisation supports retention in care and also aids in decongesting the health facilities, thereby reducing the [work] burden of physicians and nurses,” Dr Witola said.
He said prior to decentralisation of ART, care must be taken to address issues that may affect healthcare quality and possibly result in worse health outcomes.
And Chikuni home-based care coordinator Father Kelly Michelo said: “We are not only aiming at improving the patient’s health, but also their education, status and food security, while communities and families are  benefiting as well.”
Fr Michelo said failure to decentralise ART services threatens the lives of those living with HIV.
He said decentralisation of ART care to primary healthcare facilities can be one of the effective ways to rapidly scale-up ART, improve equity and access to HIV-related services as well as improve treatment outcomes in resource limited settings.
The spread and volume of HIV care and treatment services has increased significantly in Zambia in the last two decades.
As of mid-2013, around 440,000 people were receiving ART.
However, some people living with HIV who need ART are unable to access treatment or remain in care. This is often due to the time, distance and cost required to travel to treatment centres.
(Published in the Zambia Daily Mail on May 31).