Agriculture diversification: Missing link

CHILANGA ward councillor Misheck Mweemba applying manure in a field in Shimabala, Kafue district. PICTURE: DOREEN NAWA

DOREEN NAWA, Kafue
IN the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), agriculture development is considered the engine for economic growth in Zambia, and a key determinant in the country’s efforts to reduce poverty.
However, productivity in the agriculture sector lags considerably behind mainly because the rural populace, which accounts for 70 percent of the country’s agricultural production, seems not to produce enough to tackle poverty at household level.
Government has been implementing a number of development programmes and strategies aimed at improving agricultural productivity, though they have often generated weak responses.
For example, the dependency on maize production alone has been identified as one of the many contributors to high poverty levels and food insecurity among rural farmers.
In February last year, President Edgar Lungu advised Zambians to rethink dependency on maize.
“It is time farmers reconsidered their dependency on maize as a staple food and sought other alternatives. Going by what we have experienced [drought], it is time we took stock, whether maize should be the ultimate crop for survival as a people,” President Lungu said.
For almost every Zambian, maize means food.
Many homes, whether in the rural or urban areas, depend on nshima for their main meals.
It is not an understatement that in some homes, it is the only food available for all the three meals in a day - breakfast, lunch and supper.
But maize production is facing a bleak future as Zambia’s staple food not only because of the erratic rainfall that the country is experiencing, but also the high cost of producing it.
Take last farming season, for instance, when the country witnessed a long dry spell, which left some maize fields scorched.
Farmers in Zambia depend on rain to grow their crops and times like these leave them desperate and hopeless.
Zambia has other alternative crops like cassava, sorghum, millet and rice, which can be developed to constitute main meals.
But why is farmer response to diversification weak?
Evaristo Banda, 66, a small-scale farmer in Rufunsa district, says the main problem farmers face in adjusting from maize to other cereals is the lack of technical advice and knowledge on how to go about the production of alternative crops.
Mr Banda attributes the lack of knowledge to the absence of response from agricultural extension and advisory services in his area.
“I know [about] the advice from President Lungu early last year, but farmers have no guidance on how to go about it because of the absence of technical advice from extension officers. For this, I blame the extension officers for their failure to address the diverse farmers’ needs and demands,” Mr Banda says.
Mr Banda knows that farmers countrywide have not adapted to climatic and other risks, hence the urgent need for diversifying their farming activities.
“We know the need to diversify but we cannot explore it on our own. We need assistance through research and surveys to determine what crop to grow and at what time. Such information is missing and is the major setback to our graduation from maize to other cereal crops,” Mr Banda says.
He says the relationship between farming diversity and food security has potential to change the current face of agriculture in the country.
Another small-scale farmer, Christine Singoyi, 46 of Shimabala area in Kafue knows that crop diversification has potential to grow agricultural productivity.
Mrs Singoyi says the missing link between small-scale farmers and agriculture extension officers is a drawback in the progress of farming systems in Zambia.
“We know of the cost of just growing one crop like maize both in nutrition and monetary terms but as small scale farmers. We need programmes that promote sustainable land use management practices in order to nurture our soils, but people to give us this information are not there,” Mrs Banda says.
Studies indicate that agricultural diversification increases resilience, helps farmers to reduce climatic and economic risks, enhances productivity and creates food and nutrition security.
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) recently conducted a research in Zambia on the need for small-scale farmers to diversify crop production as opposed to depending on maize alone.
IIED senior researcher Seth Cook notes that diversity is a key element not only to food production but also of healthy, high-quality diets.
According to the research findings, diverse agricultural production will contribute to dietary diversity in farm households in Zambia.
“In addition, studies have found stronger links between agricultural biodiversity and dietary diversity in female-headed households than those headed by males. There is also evidence that when women have control over resources such as land and money, it leads to greater allocations of household resources for food. Empowering women is clearly key,” Mr Cook says.
Mr Cook says failure to diversify threatens food production and dietary patterns in Zambia. He notes that food diversity is at risk because of various factors, among them the diminishing number of crops on farms.
He is hopeful that one day diversity on the farm will lead to diversity on the plate.
Mr Cook says the way forward to diversity is to protect and strengthen the knowledge and cultural practices that support diverse food systems, adding that a multi-stakeholder approach can help to achieve diversity and build upon citizens’ knowledge and practices. PUBLISHED ON JANUARY 9, 2019. LINK: http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/agriculture-diversification-missing-link/