Ranking officials of Zambia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS) led by the Permanent Secretary (PS) Agness M Musunga were at the IITA-Zambia Hub office in Lusaka yesterday, 19 March, to discuss possible collaboration in a program to actively engage the country’s youth in agriculture.
and Dr Nhamo Nhamo.
Accompanying PS Musunga were Mr Raphael Mulenga, Chief Sports Development Officer, and Ms Grace Zimba, Senior Accountant. They were received by Dr David Chikoye, IITA’s Director for Southern Africa; Dr Pheneas Ntawuruhunga, Cassava Breeder; Dr Nhamo Nhamo, Cassava Agronomist and coordinator of the Zambia Agripreneurs Program (ZAP); and Mr Jeffrey Oliver, Regional Communication Officer.
Dr Chikoye briefed the visiting group about IITA, focusing on the budding Youth-in-Agriculture Program in Zambia. “ZAP is basically still in its initial stage. Your visit comes at a most opportune time as we are building the partnerships needed to push this initiative forward,” he said.
He further explained that the initiative was part of an umbrella program called IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) that was started three years ago in Nigeria. IYA aims to tackle youth unemployment and the need to improve food security through increased agricultural production – objectives that, Dr Chikoye explained, ZAP also aims to achieve in Zambia.
“The MYS will definitely play a critical role in this effort,” he emphasized.
Further elaborating on the status of ZAP, Dr Nhamo said, “Just 2 weeks ago in Livingstone, we coorganized a meeting-workshop with the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) during which we brought together various stakeholders, including youth groups, to enlighten them about ZAP and come up with a draft implementation strategy.”
For the MYS, PS Musunga said that her ministry had already started on a similar program. She explained: “On a 3,000-hectare resettlement scheme in Mwange, Mporokoso District, in the Northern province, we have established a youth resource and training center for young Zambians from within the district and adjacent areas on different aspects of crop production and utilization.”
“And since the area where the center is located was formerly a refugee camp, the basic infrastructure is already there. MYS is putting in resources to rehabilitate and upgrade some of the facilities, such as faculty buildings, schools, and hostels to cater for the trainees.”
“We currently have about 100 young people at the resource center being trained on soybean production. We aim to increase the number to 500. We then plan to give 5 hectares to each successful trainee within the resettlement area to develop, with support, of course,” the PS continued.
“To better ensure the success of the program, we want to exp and into cassava production and, possibly, processing. And this is where we need your help. The people that we had previously talked to, and who referred us to you, said that IITA was the best in this regard,” she added.
Asked what kind of support the ministry needed, the PS said, “For now, we need planting materials of improved cassava varieties, as well as training on good cultural and management practices.”
Dr Ntawuruhunga replied, “In Zambia, we have released seven improved varieties of cassava, so you have a choice depending on the qualities that you want or the intended use. Planting materials for these varieties are readily available. We can also provide clean (disease-free) planting materials for your use.”
“What we propose is that apart from providing improved cassava seeds and training the youth in planting and maintaining them at your center, IITA could also help MYS to establish a seed multiplication system at the training center to generate the needed number of planting materials, as well as providing the necessary training.”
“Additionally, we could offer to train the youth in Mwange on cassava processing such as producing starch using simple mechanized equipment. We can also train them in producing various cassava-based food products such as bread and confectionary,” Dr Ntawuruhunga added.
“It’s been really good to have this exploratory talk with IITA,” said PS Musunga. “On behalf of the ministry, I am inviting you to come and visit our youth resource center in Mwange so you can suggest what we could do to further improve the program.”
“I am very excited about this potential partnership between IITA and MYS to get the Zambian youth actively engaged in agriculture for their own and the country’s future. I am really looking forward to formalizing this collaboration,” the PS concluded.
For more information, please contact:
Andrea Gros, Head of Communication, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture a.gros@cgiar.org
About IITA, www.iita.org
IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
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