By SYLVIA MWEETWA-
COMMISSIONER of Prisons, Percy Chato says the Prisons Service has commenced its agricultural expansion programme following the allocation of K20 million in this year’s budget.
Mr Chato said funding would also go towards improvement of the prisoners’ diet in all the prisons.
He said the prisons command had since commenced the procurement process to enable the Prisons Service acquire modern agriculture equipment to be used for the expansion project.
Mr Chato said in an interview in Kabwe yesterday that the Prisons Service had committed itself to enhance food security in the country and would ensure that the goal was achieved thereby contributing positively to the agricultural sector.
“I want to state that the procuring process is already underway and we hope this will be concluded soon so as to allow us procure the much needed equipment to be used at a larger scale,” he said.
He said apart from increasing its agricultural output at Chitumba in Mumbwa District, the Prisons Service intend to make use of the Mwembeshi Farm as well as Chondwe Prisons in Ndola.
He was confident that with the availability of resources, the Prisons Service would be able to produce surplus stocks which for national consumption.
He said in its expansion programme, the Prisons Service would apart from growing  maize diversify into cultivation of other crops.
Last week, President Michael Sata directed the Zambia National Service (ZNS) and the Prisons Service to triple their maize production to mitigate the pricing of mealie-meal in the country and urged them to triple their soya beans production in order to mitigate the pricing of stock feed.
The President said Government had since allocated a total of K22 million in the 2014 fiscal budget which will be used to increase agricultural production by the Prisons Service by expanding Chitumba Farm to 5,000 hectares of land and recapitalise it with modern equipment fully by 2016.