DEPUTY Secretary to the Cabinet for Finance and Economic Development, Siakazongo Siakalenge, has commended the Zambia Air Force (ZAF), for cultivating 600 hectares of maize on its Mbala farm of Northern Province.
Mr Siakalenge says ZAF’s initiative to grow maize, is in response to President Hakainde Hichilema’s directive to the defence force to venture into agricultural activities to contribute to the country’s food security.
Speaking during his familiarisation tour of ZAF Mbala farms yesterday, Mr Siakalenge observed that the country will reduce reliance on maize imports going forward.
“We are here today at the instruction of the Commander in Chief, President Hichilema, for us to come and check what the Zambia Air Force is doing. We are told that they have cultivated 600 hactres of maize, which is commendable,” he said.
Mr Siakalenge added that the 600 hectares of maize that ZAF has cultivated, is also in line with President Hichilema’s instruction to the country to produce not less than 10 million tonnes of maize annually.
He further urged the ZAF Command to increase the hectarage to 2,500 next year, leveraging on the defence force’s human resource and expertise to increase food production in the country.
The Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet expressed optimism that with over 51,000 hectares of land that ZAF has acquired in Northern Province alone, the command is expected to scale-up the extent of their farming activities.
He encouraged ZAF to participate in growing both winter and rain-fed maize in a quest to enhance national food security in the country.
Mr Siakalenge has since praised ZAF men and women in uniform for their dedication to agriculture despite venturing into it for the first time.
“Let me say we are extremely happy as Cabinet Office and as a country for your commitment to implement the Presidential directive to grow maize to feed the nation, this is commendable,” he said.
ZAF Commander, Lieutenant General, Oscar Nyoni, stated that the 600 hectares of maize that have been cultivated in Mbala is a starting point.
He said the initiative by the defence personnel symbolises that in time of peace, they can do other things such as farming, aimed at contributing to the country’s food availability.
“This is the first time, but going forward with the support from the Government, we are going to do even more by diversifying into other crops such as wheat and soya beans among others. With the consultancy we have received from our partners, we will do more,” he added.
Lt Gen Nyoni also called on the government to support his command with mechanised equipment which will enable them to produce food throughout the year.
Earlier, Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) Delivery Manager-Efficient Value Chain, Jones Shimbela observed that the initiative by ZAF to implement the Presidential directive will actualise the President’s instruction to reach 10 million tonnes of maize annually, one million tonnes of wheat and one million tonnes of soya beans.
