Small Scale Farmers call govermenet to addresses their obstacles

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