By HELEN ZULU –

NWK Agri-services has urged farmers in the country to embrace cotton farming  to help alleviate rural poverty.
Chief agriculture services officer Kelvin Hambwezya said cotton farming has the potential to alleviate rural poverty as more farmers would have access to ready cash from the sale of the commodity.
Mr Hambwezya said Zambia’s favourable soil and climate conditions offered high potential for cotton production.
He said the potential for cotton production in terms of suitable land and climate was vast on over 800 000 hectares, but only about 300 000 hectares was currently under cotton cultivation.
Mr Hambwezya said this in an interview in Lusaka.
“I would like to urge farmers in the country to take cotton farming seriously because it has the potential to alleviate rural poverty as more farmers will have access to ready cash from sale of the commodity,” he said.
Mr Hambwezya said there was need for farmers to take cotton farming seriously as it was the potential foreign exchange earning commodity for the country through Lint exports.
He said cotton farming would also help in terms of employment generation for the country as more people would be employed by cotton companies.
In Zambia, cotton is produced by smallholder farmers under out-grower contracts with the ginning companies.
Scope exists for commercial farming as vast tracts of land are available in areas where cotton production is conducive, such as the Eastern, Lusaka, Copperbelt, Western,  Central and Southern Provinces.