By GLORIA SIWISHA –
ABOUT 1, 000 smallholder farmers in Lundazi District of Eastern Province, have started receiving  inputs under the Cross Border Network Africa (CBNA) red onion empowerment programme.
CBNA is giving each beneficiary farmer 2×50 kilogramme bags of
Urea and Compound D fertiliser and 2×100 grammes tins of red onion
seed.
The programme worth K1 million is aimed at empowering local
farmers to increase production of red onion so as to reduce
importation of the product.
CBNA advocates for trade in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA) regions.
Lundazi District Commissioner, Janet Palukani who flagged off the
input distribution exercise, hailed CBNA for the gesture saying the red onion project would help reduce poverty levels in the district and over dependency on relief food.
Ms Palukani however, cautioned beneficiaries against misuse of inputs as relevant government departments would monitor implementation of the project in order to bring to book all that would be found wanting.
She urged farmers to develop a habit of paying back loans if they were to be entrusted with more empowerment programmes.
“We are going to monitor this red onion project at each and every
stage of its implementation because what we want is to reduce poverty and over-dependency on relief food and we can do it through farmers embracing the red onion empowerment project,” Ms Palukani said.
CBNA Chairperson Bernard Sikunyongana said the organisation was
distributing 2,000 bags of fertiliser to 1,000 smallholder farmers in the initial phase of the project.
Mr Sikunyongana said the project was expected to create 25,000 direct jobs among the people of Lundazi aside from CBNA providing a ready market for the farmers’ produce.
“This project will create 25,000 direct jobs among the people of
Lundazi thus reducing poverty levels because CBNA intends to extend
this project throughout the country,” he said.
He however, appealed to Government to help the organisation acquire
more inputs so as to meet the increasing numbers of farmers wanting to grow red onion.
Lundazi District Agricultural Coordinator Philemon Lungu appealed to beneficiaries to use the inputs prudently.
“To the farmers, let’s use these inputs to benefit our selves. Let’s not let down this organisation which is doing a great service to us,” Mr Lungu said. – NAIS