By  SYLVIA MWEETWA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has said that research remains the key to growing Zambia’s agriculture sector considering changes in the weather pattern the country is experiencing.
Mr Lungu said that with improved research, it was possible for the agriculture sector to flourish and that the setting up of research centres such as the Golden Valley Agricultural Research Trust (GART) was crucial to the country’s development.
The President, who was speaking in Chisamba yesterday at the 2015 Agric Expo, said research was the answer to the climatic changes which should not be ignored.

• .PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu (left) talks to former vice- president Guy Scott in Chisamba yesterday during the Agritech Expo Zambia 2015. Picture by
SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE

The Head of State was confident that this was particularly possible in overcoming challenges faced by the farmers whom he said he was ready to meet to share ideas on how to  grow the sector.
Mr Lungu said the country had experts who could be utilised and urged Zambians, especially farmers who were key partners in development, to make use of the research centres.
“Global warming is a challenge facing not only Zambia but the world as a whole but as a country with experts, we need to be involved in research, especially in our agriculture if the country’s food security is to be safeguarded,“ President Lungu said.
The President, who toured more than eight stands which exhibited at the Expo, among them, Zanaco, SARO, John Deer and Kelvin Keroo, described the event as informative.
He appealed to Zambians to make use of such ventures if they had to increase their production.
President Lungu also said there was need to make use of wasted water by engaging in irrigation but that this would require knowledgeable farmers.
Mr Lungu reaffirmed that Zambians would never go hungry because the country had enough food. He said food was just as good as politics and that without it the country would not be stable.
After touring the stands, Mr Lungu said he was happy with the display of agricultural machinery as well as how banks were assisting farmers to grow their produce.
Mr Lungu was also happy to see former acting president Guy Scott who he last saw after his election and described him as his boss.
“I  know that some of my critics thought we have been torn apart but the fact that he is here shows that he is still my boss and those who think otherwise baloba ilyauma (which means coming out with nothing),” President Lungu said.
Among those in attendence were Dr Scott, Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula, Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda, Central Province Minister Davis Chisopa, Permanent Secretary  Edwidge Mutale and,senior Government officials.