Africa-Press – Zambia. Ndola Chambers of Commerce president, Paul Chisunka says true freedom is achievable when the public and private sectors combine forces in eliminating hunger at domestic level.
Mr. Chisunka says this can be done by jointly leveraging national resources and other endowments such as land, water resources, and traditional and non-traditional crops.
Speaking in an interview of the sidelines commemorating 2022 Africa Freedom day held under the theme: “Leveraging National resources for enhanced food security, ” the chamber president there is need for everyone to work together and eliminate all forms of hunger in the country.
“We believe that true freedom comes from the public and private sectors working together so that no Zambian goes hungry and that our people are fully in charge of their own food security which is insured against every possible eventuality through strategic agro-investments,” he says.
He calls on government ensure the agricultural sector is further liberalized by making the acquisition of farming land easier and cheaper for Zambians.
He further called for more investment in cold chains, grain storage, commodity exchanges, reliable and affordable power supply to farm blocks and rural to that accelerate mechanization.
Mr. Chisunka adds government should also provide farmers with more extension services, pest and disease control services. “For enhanced food security, resources should urgently be secured and deployed towards fertilizer production, and agro infrastructure to build good roads leading to farming areas.
“ Water harvesting facilities, irrigation channels, food processing zones, and the promotion of linkages within the agro-value chain,” Mr. Chisunka says.
The Ndola Chamber president , who paid tribute to Ndola based freedom fighters, stresses that the country’s food security can further be guaranteed through long term affordable agro-finance, inexpensive farming inputs, and uptake of new technologies.
He emphasized exposure to improved farming techniques, marketing, commercializing of traditional farming knowledge, continuous scientific research, and the strengthening of linkages between small holder farmers and commercial farmers.
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