Allow me to share my personal observations on the current status of the agriculture sector.
While I appreciate the positive achievements government has so far made to revamp operations of various value addition enterprises such as the cashew nut industry in Western province, there is still more room for improvement.
With the current reality of climate change, it is time the Ministry of Agriculture rebranded itself to avoid assuming a fire fighting role when it comes to mitigating food shortage challenges that may come as result of floods.
Today, little can be said of agricultural research which is now very poorly funded.
While the current extension worker-farmer ratio remains unacceptably high, the few extension staff that are currently in service are rarely taken for refresher courses to cope with the changing trends in agricultural development.
If anyone does not believe this, take a random visit to one of the regional research stations or Farmer training centres.
In short, government should consider increasing funding towards agricultural research and the extension services.
ALINUWILA SIKAONA – ISOKA (KWILANZI)
