{"id":20003,"date":"2024-03-01T09:47:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T09:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=20003"},"modified":"2024-03-01T09:47:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T09:47:44","slug":"zambia-announces-mechanization-initiative-for-smallholder-farmers-amid-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/03\/01\/zambia-announces-mechanization-initiative-for-smallholder-farmers-amid-drought\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambia announces mechanization initiative for smallholder farmers amid drought"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government of Zambia<\/u><\/a> has announced a mechanization initiative<\/u><\/a> to fund small-scale farmers amid a just declared drought emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 29, Vice President Mutale Nalumamgo launched the National Agricultural Mechanization Strategy, after which President Hakainde Hichilema declared a national disaster<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president said that farmers have lost 50% of planted crops after post-El Ni\u00f1o drought affected a million households. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, however, the focus is on mechanization projects as they directly concern smallholder farmers who produce 90% <\/u><\/a>of Zambia\u2019s food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current aim is to mechanize up to 500,000 hectares of small-scale farming lots around the country by 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve this feasible dream, the vice president committed to initialize a financing system for poor farmers buying mechanical implements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VP Nalumango defended his promise against drought by saying that climate change could not alter plans to boost farm productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This at a time when 84 of 116 districts <\/u><\/a>in the country are feeling the heat of global warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanization Initiative<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mechanization in agriculture is the one area where the South African nation has continued to perform excellently in the 21st<\/sup> century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 2008 and 2018, mechanization programs grew by 3% and drove agricultural productivity by 8% during these ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major areas of improvement included the expansion of processing facilities in the cassava industry. Zambia also had a target to expand mechanized acreage to 3 million acres<\/u><\/a> by 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanizing Key Crops<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Given Zambia\u2019s multiple weather zones which bring mixed productivity, the country has initiated targeted mechanization drives for key crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of these is the soybean Thresher Pilot Project, a July 2023 development component. Mechanical threshers will benefit 90% of household farmers who use hand means to thresh soybeans, an important food security crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have also been research projects in eastern Zambia aiming to propagate drought-resistant legumes<\/u><\/a> that can withstand climate toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, as Lusaka battles the 2023-24 drought, it is clear that the vision of mechanization remains unstoppable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government of Zambia has announced a mechanization initiative to fund small-scale farmers amid a just declared drought emergency. On February 29, Vice President Mutale Nalumamgo launched the National Agricultural Mechanization Strategy, after which President Hakainde Hichilema declared a national disaster. The president said that farmers have lost 50% of planted crops after post-El Ni\u00f1o drought affected a million households.  For…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nZambia announces mechanization initiative for smallholder farmers amid drought - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/03\/01\/zambia-announces-mechanization-initiative-for-smallholder-farmers-amid-drought\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zambia announces mechanization initiative for smallholder farmers amid drought - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government of Zambia has announced a mechanization initiative to fund small-scale farmers amid a just declared drought emergency. 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