Zambian Small Scale Farmers have called on
government to address numerous challenges they are facing.
Speaking on behalf of other Small Scale Farmers this
Morning at a High Level Policy Forum at Pamodzi Hotel Mrs. Grace Tepula called
on government to tackle obstacles such as the poor road network which she
explained that it leads to lack of access to markets for agricultural products.
Mrs. Tepula, a farmer from the Copperbelt Province
also lamented that their agricultural products fail to compete favourably with
imported products as they are usually subsidized by their country of origin.
"Look, for instance home grown potatoes are more expensive than the imported ones. The reason is simple, those imported potatoes are subsidised by the country of origin. Now, this situation disadvantages a local small scale farmer like myself'", she said.
She has since appealed to government to formulate
deliberate policy that will promote local agricultural products.
And speaking at the same occasion Agriculture
Minister Wilbur Simusa assured stake holders that his government is serious in
addressing various challenges been encountered by the agriculture sector.
Mr. Simusa explained that government has increased
budgetary allocation in the area of improving the road infrastructure.
Action Aid Zambia, Platform for Social Protection
and ONE are among other organizations that sponsored this morning’s High Level
Policy Forum whose theme was Changing the way we do agriculture in Zambia
