BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes
@SunZambia
FARMERS should utilize the empowerment loan Government is giving out under the Citizen Economic Empowerment Fund (CEEC) to invest in key economic sectors, says Minister of fisheries Kapamba Chewe.
Ms Chewe said farmers could apply for loans and invest in areas such as poultry and fish farming.
She also said that honey, goats and fish had a huge demand from countries such as China and Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).
She said this in an interview with the Sun. “In honey, we obviously know that we have a deficit. There is demand for Zambian honey, Currently we have up to about 500 metric tonnes of honey deficit so we are saying can we produce more so that our farmers are able to earn more revenue,
“We know of indigenous Zambians that can invest but they do know where to invest their money in, these are some of the avenues that they are able to place their money,” Ms Chewe said.
Ms Chewe also encouraged farmers to venture into lucrative fish farming and contribute to employment generation.
She said Zambia had a fish deficit of 87,000 metric tonnes per annum which could be narrowed if more farmers invested in the industry.
“We have brought our fund manager who are CEEC to bring on board loans in the whole value chain; so my encouragement to our farmers is that let us produce and as a ministry we are trying to strengthen the market linkages for our farmers,
“So when you know that in an economy there is a deficit for example in poultry and fish, it means there is a market, the demand is already there what we need to do is narrow it on the deficit as a country so that we can have a surplus and earn revenue for ourselves,” Ms Chewe said.
