Zambia launches agriculture mechanization strategy for smallholder farmers

LUSAKA, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Thursday launched an agricultural mechanization strategy aimed at helping smallholder farmers improve their productivity.

The National Agricultural Mechanization Strategy is designed to provide smallholder farmers with easy access to farm equipment to enhance their productivity.

Vice President Mutale Nalumango said the government is committed to ensuring that smallholder farmer mechanization becomes a reality in the country. "We wish to put it on record that not even climate change will make us lose interest in efficient agricultural productivity. Ours is to fight back," she said during the strategy's launch.

She also announced the government's plan to mechanize about 500,000 hectares of smallholder farms by 2027. The strategy includes various measures to ensure the successful implementation of mechanization.

These measures include establishing mechanization centers in partnership with the private sector across the country and setting up a national agriculture mechanization steering committee to oversee the implementation of the strategy.

Furthermore, the vice president said that the newly established agriculture financing facility will include a component to provide affordable financing to smallholder farmers, enabling them to acquire mechanization equipment.