ZAMBIA WANTS MORE INVESTORS

THE Government should cut down current administrative expenditure to promote investment agriculture growth, the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has said.

Board chairperson John Lijimu said Government should cut down its current administrative expenditure to allow for greater investments in the social sectors and promote agriculture as a growth sector.

“This will require taking measures to cut down on the current size of cabinet to free-up resources that can be channelled to the promotion and further investments in the agriculture sector,” Mr Lijimu.

Speaking at the launch of “Walk the Talk Campaign in Lusaka: End Extreme Poverty Now”, he said greater investments in the sector would only be achieved by correct targeting of the farmers that were vulnerable but viable farmers. 

Mr Lijimu further said Government should also maximise revenue collection from the mining sector and reinvest in the agriculture sector and increase the number of beneficiaries under the Farmer Input Support Programme (CSPR).

Increasing allocations in a transparent manner to the agriculture sector will result in strengthening the rural economy.

CSPR feels the ministry of agriculture conduct consultative meeting s with small scale farmers to ensure investment in the agriculture through FISP were correctly targeted for immediate impact on hunger and income deprivation amongst the poorest rural households.

He also said there was need for the Government to handover the operations of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to private entities to ensure efficiency in the disbursement and payment of farmers on time.

“Doing so will promote private sector participation in the agriculture sector through promoting competitiveness to ensure job creation in the agricultural industry is boosted further,” he said.

The campaign will be carried out particularly in the Provinces with high extreme poverty levels but will seek to benefit every Zambian citizen.