By JULIUS PHIRI – THE Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has welcomed calls made by the visiting African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina that the current economic challenges facing the country present an opportunity for Zambia to diversify into other key areas such as the agriculture sector. Dr Adesina said when he paid a courtesy call on President Edgar Lungu at Sate House on Monday that agriculture was one of the key areas that could grow the economy of the country. CSPR advocacy and communication programmes officer Maxson Nkhoma said in a statement yesterday that he was pleased and delighted with the message of economic diversification which was delivered by Dr Adesina to the Head of State when the two conferred on a number of economic development ventures. Mr Nkhoma said the current economic challenges Zambia was facing had been exacerbated by the lack of implementation of an effective economic diversification drive which looks at increasing productivity in sectors such as agriculture, which could trigger growth in manufacturing through processing and packaging. He said it was saddening to note that despite the economic diversification programme being discussed by successive governments , Zambia has failed to implement economic diversification due to lack of political will. Mr Nkhoma appealed to the cooperating partners such as the AfDB to help Government in financing economic diversification as it comes with a great cost. He said CSPR was however, happy to learn that President Lungu was passionate about economic diversification and considers investments in agriculture sector in high esteem as it has potential to create wealth and contribute significantly to national economic development .