Govt forecasts bumper maize yield

Efforts to bolster agricultural production in Zambia has paid off with the government forecasting a second successive maize bumper harvest this year. "We expect official figures from the crop assessment to be released later in June, but so far it looks as if we will bring in the same quantity of maize as last year, or slightly better," agriculture permanent secretary, Nicholas Kwendakwema, told IRIN on Friday. Zambia produced 1.2 million mt of maize during the 2002/03 farming season - double the quantity in the previous year. The poor harvest in 2001/02 saw widespread food shortages, with millions of Zambians relying on food aid to survive. Kwendakwema attributed the projected bumper yield to a government assistance package provided to small-scale farmers. "The 2001/02 food shortages was mainly caused by the failure of small-scale farmers to produce enough. But the government soon realised this fact and stepped in to support those most vulnerable," he said. In a bid to boost production, the government supported more than 150,000 farmers with subsidised maize seed and fertiliser under its "Fertiliser Support Programme". Kwendakwema said the country intended to export 120,000 mt of maize, the same amount as in 2003. "We should have enough maize for domestic consumption. Thereafter we intend to exported maize to neighbouring countries such as Angola, Tanzania and Zimbabwe," he told IRIN.