Farming without Strategy and without applied Science
Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba writes;
There were warnings by reputable forecasters of dry periods that would occur after the first rains in November 2024.
The warning has come to pass. Crops have been damaged especially for farmers that planted early.
The El Niño brought the worst drought in 2023/2024 farming season, the worst drought we have witnessed in decades.
But the subsequent La Niña in 2025 was expected to bring better rainfall. However, the forecasters quivkly revised the expectations and predicted another drought, though a mild one.
But the meterological agency in Zambia appears to miss the mark everytime and thereby fail to help farmers decide with timely information.
Now we are praying for Cyclone Chido, a category 4 storm, that usually brings floods and damage!
Farmers are now being asked to replant.
We should remember that during the worst drought, there were areas that received significant rainfall and subsequent bumper harvest. Government never took advantage of this bare-to-see opportunity to support the small-holder farmers in these areas with plenty of farming inputs.
Infact Government starved these areas of fertilizers and for the first time we saw FISP beneficiaries share the commodity in medas.
This scenario has continued.
What we need is to shed partisan emotions, and concentrate farming in areas of good rainfall prospects for now and in the long-term, build dams and canals in dry areas.
Egypt has NOT received significant rain in the last five hundred (500) years but utilises the water from the river Nile through a dam, and a series of irrigation methods and a network of canals. Egypt grows more crops in Africa than countries that recieve annual rainfall-combined!
So everytime I hear Minister of Agriculture, Reuben Mtolo speak, I realise he can never implement plans that can make or exploit Agriculture to become a major industry in our country.
Farming without Strategy and without applied Science
