{"id":13100,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/zambia-agric-minister-to-sard-sc-stakeholders-lets-make-a-real-difference-in-farmers-lives\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:26:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:24","slug":"zambia-agric-minister-to-sard-sc-stakeholders-lets-make-a-real-difference-in-farmers-lives","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/zambia-agric-minister-to-sard-sc-stakeholders-lets-make-a-real-difference-in-farmers-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambia Agric Minister to SARD-SC stakeholders &#8211; Lets make a real difference in farmers lives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/image_gallery-3-6.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-9943\" src=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/image_gallery-3-6.jpg\" alt=\"Image\" width=\"250\" height=\"170\" \/><\/a>\u201cIf we are going to make a real difference in farmers\u2019 lives, agricultural research must not only be responsive to the needs of the times but more importantly it should be able to find its way into farmers\u2019 fields  and their families\u2019 homes. Research should never stay on the shelves \u2013 it should result in concrete outputs that would benefit farmers in Africa wherever they may be. This is my vision  and sincere hope for this project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These were the words of Honorable Robert Sichinga, Zambia\u2019s Minister of Agriculture  and Cooperatives, as he launched the Southern Africa component of the African Development Bank (AfDB)-funded \u2018Support for Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC)\u2019 project during a ceremony held at the Cresta Golf View Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia on Monday, 16 April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also opened the two-day planning workshop for Southern Africa partners  and stakeholders of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt this day  and age of modern technologies, it is mind boggling to still see farmers working the l and with hoes, which our forefathers have been using since time immemorial. This is unacceptable given the advances in agricultural research that we have all been talking about,\u201d added the Minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cApart from increasing crop productivity, I encourage all the experts  and scientists gathered here to also make it a priority to find practical ways to ease the burden of physical labor of our farmers in tilling the l and. We should strive to free the farmers from carrying a heavy hoe over their shoulders when going to their fields,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hope that at the end of this project, we would see concrete results in farmers\u2019 fields  and in farmers\u2019 lives,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In explaining why the AfDB-funded SARD-SC, Philip Boahen, Principal Country Program Officer based at the Bank\u2019s Zambia Country Office, said \u201cwe saw the need to go back to the root \u2013 back to basic research if we are to effectively address the more upstream problems of rural poverty  and food insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is the Bank\u2019s first sortie into agricultural research  and development,  and we are delighted  and fortunate to have organizations such as IITA on board to make sure that the objectives of SARD-SC are successfully met,\u201d Boahen added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chrysantus Akem, IITA scientist  and SARD-SC Project Coordinator, indicated that the planning workshop for the Southern Africa partners of the project aimed to familiarize participants with SARD-SC\u2019s activities, implementation arrangement, plan of work, budget,  and coordination arrangements. Based on these, the crop working groups developed workplans for the region to be undertaken at the initial stages of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Approved in 2012, the SARD-SC project is a US$63.24-million funded initiative whose overall goal is to enhance food  and nutrition security  and contribute to poverty reduction in 20 of AfDB\u2019s low-income Regional Member Countries. Specifically, it aims to enhance the productivity  and income of four priority value chains \u2013 cassava, maize, rice,  and wheat \u2013 on a sustainable basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The project is being co-implemented by three Africa-based CGIAR member centers: IITA, AfricaRice,  and ICARDA. IITA is also the project\u2019s Executing Agency.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIf we are going to make a real difference in farmers\u2019 lives, agricultural research must not only be responsive to the needs of the times but more importantly it should be able to find its way into farmers\u2019 fields and their families\u2019 homes. Research should never stay on the shelves \u2013 it should result in concrete outputs that would benefit farmers in Africa wherever they may be. This is my vision and sincere hope for this project&#8230;\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[46],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[191],"class_list":["post-13100","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","location-zambia","item-year-191"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zambia Agric Minister to SARD-SC stakeholders - Lets make a real difference in farmers lives - IITA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/zambia-agric-minister-to-sard-sc-stakeholders-lets-make-a-real-difference-in-farmers-lives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zambia Agric Minister to SARD-SC stakeholders - Lets make a real difference in farmers lives - IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIf we are going to make a real difference in farmers\u2019 lives, agricultural research must not only be responsive to the needs of the times but more importantly it should be able to find its way into farmers\u2019 fields and their families\u2019 homes. 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