Government urges women and youths to participate in forage production

By Gloria Siwisha

SMALLHOLDER farmers in rural  parts of the country often face difficulties in providing enough food for their livestock especially during the long dry periods of the year when there is a decline in both quantity and quality of livestock food or forage.

This is mainly attributed to the limited information and skills in the production of forage or fodder for livestock, as well as, the economical utilisation of these products.

As a result, there is usually chronic nutritional stress on grazing livestock that in turn leads to reduced productivity and incomes from the sale of such animals.

For this reason, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, through the Enhanced Smallholder Livestock Investment Programme (E-SLIP), has embarked on the ‘sustainable forage and forage seed production and utilization programme’ among smallholder farmers across the country.

The programme targets to reach 80,000 smallholder farmers and aims at addressing the need for them to correctly feed their livestock in a competitively cheaper manner to maximize on profits.

It also aims at introducing improved grasses and legume species into integrated livestock-crop farming systems; improvement of over 100,000 hectares of communal grazing areas through over-sowing of well-adapted leguminous species, and distribution of start-up ‘forage seed’ to 80,000 households.

Further, the programme seeks to establish capacity for contract forage production within smallholder farms in targeted areas, as well as build capacity of forage seed growers in forage seed production, processing, storage, seed marketing, and post-harvest technologies among others.

Speaking when she handed over 1,000 chickens and 200 goats to livestock farmers in Lumezi district, Fisheries and Livestock minister Nkandu Luo urged women and youths to participate in the production of livestock food.

Professor Luo also used the opportunity to launch the 2020/2021 forage seed and pasture production season.

She said livestock, just like human beings, need proper nutrition in order to be healthy and remain productive.

“We as Africans, when we have cattle, a goat, or a chicken, we leave it to eat whatever it wants but that’s not good for the development of that livestock. The livestock must eat properly just like the way we eat,” she said.

At the same event, the minister handed over a cheque worth K1, 289, 443.72 to fifty five smallholder farmers who participated in the production of 50 metric tonnes of forage seed during the 2019/2020 agriculture season.

“Here in Zambia, we have 55 farmers who have taken up the mantle to grow the correct food for livestock. So, to encourage all of you here to be growing pastures for livestock, I am handing over a cheque totalling K1,289,443.72 to these 55 seed growers who produced 50 tonnes of forage seed last season,” she said.

Of the 55 forage seed growers, Margaret Chikoti of Luanshya on the Copperbelt Province received the highest amount of K121, 248.86 for having cultivated the most forage seed, while Elijah Mbewe, a smallholder farmer of Lundazi district received the second highest amount of K97, 790.00.

Mr Mbewe cultivated 12 hectares of forage seed during the 2019/2020 agriculture season and harvested 4 tonnes. Most of the forage seed Mr Mbewe produced were leguminous species that are also suitable for integrated livestock-crop farming systems.

“His profit, after deducting all the costs, is K70, 890,” Professor Luo said while handing over the dummy cheque to Mr Mbewe.

On his part, Mr Mbewe thanked the Government for including him in the programme.

He said last season, was the second time he was participating in the programme, the first being during the 2018/2019 season where he produced 700 Kilogrammes of forage seed.

“This programme has benefited me a lot because I am now in the chain of helping other farmers to access seed easily within their vicinity than it was some time back when people would get seed from abroad. We have seen it more important for smallholder farmers to start producing seed so that it provides a good supplement to our animals apart from natural grazing,” he said.

He urges other farmers to develop the interest in producing animal food.

“Let’s take keen interest in producing pastures in order to improve productivity rather than a situation where someone sells his or her animals after 6 years. If you supplement it with feed, you will be able to sell your animals within 2 to 3 years,” said Mr Mbewe.

Meanwhile, Dikoka Ching’ambu, a forage seed specialist under E-SLIP, said the programme is aimed at addressing the nutritional challenges that smallholder farmers face during the dry periods of the year.

“It is not a secret that during the months of August all the way upto November, our animals literally do not have any food to feed on and that is the case year-in-year-out. So this programme came to work with the farmers to try and address that,” he said.

He said forage seed production commenced in 2018 with the 55 farmers and that the goal is to also make pasture and fodder seeds easily accessible by smallholder farmers.

“With the launch of the forage seed production season by the minister, it means that seed produced by the 55 farmers is now all over the country and our farmers can access it. So this is the beginning of a greater journey because the moment farmers can access the seed; then it means they will have something to plant and this is what Government wants,” he said.

Mr Ching’ambu said besides establishing contract seed production capacity, the programme also buys-back the forage seed from the producers for further re-distribution to the 80,000 targeted farmers under the programme.

He said this also ensures that there is sustainable seed supply.

“As a programme, we buy back into the programme the seed that is produced by the 55 farmers; so it is more like an out-grower scheme. So, where do we take this seed? Remember, we are targeting 80,000 farmers within the programme life that should access some of these pastures. So the idea is for each one of these farmers to at least plant a Lima. A Lima may not be enough to cater for all of one’s livestock but it is enough for us to know what pasture seeds are available out there and how they grow,” he said.

He said the role of the 80,000 farmers would be to ensure that correct food is fed to their livestock.
“Government through E-SLIP has made headway from the 55 farmers who produced 50 tonnes of seed last season; so that is somewhere to start from to have the seed to give our 80,000 targeted farmers. The job of the 80,000 farmers’ category is not to grow forage seed but to harvest it, and feed it to their livestock in the form of either making silage or different forms of feed,” Mr Ching’ambu said.

E-SLIP is a US$ 46.28 million worth project which is being implemented in 9 out of the 10 provinces of Zambia from 2014 to 2022.

Government is implementing the programme with joint support from OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).

Through the project’s forage and forage seed programme, Government hopes that beneficiaries would network, increase knowledge levels on pasture and forage production, contribute to the development of the livestock sector, and ultimately improve their livelihoods.

The active participation of targeted farmers in the programme is hence critical as it is one programme with immense potential to increase the livestock sub-sector’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).