E-SLIP interventions delight East smallholder poultry farmers
By GLORIA SIWISHA DIFFERENT farming communities in Zambia, share livestock in order to empower themselves and sustain their lives. This is because rural farmers generally operate under difficult circumstances characterized by limited access to financing or capital to boost their businesses. In Eastern Province, the concept of ‘passing on the gift’ to other community members is called “Kuvuula” by both the Chewa and Ngoni people, and through such noble undertakings, communities have been able to co-exist from generation to generation. The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock also employs this concept in its Enhanced Smallholder Livestock Investment Programme (E-SLIP), a programme which is being implemented in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development ( IFAD), and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). Under its livestock stocking and restocking sub-component, E-SLIP empowers women and youths in rural communities with livestock packages