Zambia plans international roadshows to promote agric potentials

Government will this year embark on international roadshows to showcase Zambia’s agricultural potentials to global investors.

This was announced by the Finance and National Development Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane.

Musokotwane said government had high expectations for the agriculture sector this year, the reason it was keen on opening up spaces for players by linking them to world class investors.

He explained that his ministry together with his counterpart Ministry of Agriculture would this year embark on international roadshows meant to attract investments.

The minister said this at the 2022 Economic Performance and 2023 Outlook Town Hall meeting held recently in Lusaka.

“In the national budget we talked about that we have high expectations about agriculture, we have high expectations out of tourism and in agriculture, we said we are going to open up more spaces because we have two route approaches to agriculture.

“So we will be making roadshows with the minister of agriculture to world class investors whether it is in Brazil, Australia, and South Africa or in Zambia. We have opened up the space. So that programme is on this year,” Musokwane said.

He stated that Government had set out two routes to promote the agriculture sector this year, one of them being continuing to support small scale farmers so that they were more productive.

“But the other route, for those who have the muscle, the corporate world who are able to farm large hectares of land without government support other than infrastructure, we are opening up space for them.

“We are opening up incentives for them so that we take advantage of this food shortage that is there because of that war in Ukraine and produce large quantities for export either as raw materials or as processed foods,” Musokotwane said.