FARMERS DIVERSIFY INTO YAM PRODUCTION

By Jessica Mwansa

MORE sensitisation on the need for cultivation of indigenous Zambian yams has contributed to crop diversification among small holder farmers in Zambia, Yam Orange Zambia Executive Director Michael Mwandila has said.

In an interview with The Scoop, Mr. Mwandila said over 4000 small scale farmers had been registered across the country as a way to champion yams in Zambia adding that yam was an important source of income and high nutritional value to the community.

He said the organization had trained over 1000 small holder farmers dotted across the country and that it had members in all the 10 provinces.

“Yam is called an orphan crop in Zambia, thus, there is a dearth of information on yam production. That is why our organization is persuading Zambians through yam farming to reduce dependence on maize and mono diet.

“When some youths think of lucrative employment, they usually fantasize about anything other than getting their hands dirty with soil. However, as the trends in entrepreneurship change due to the changing preferences among people, the need for food and nutrition remains constant. As such, farming continues to be the income generator which is guaranteed to have a constant clientele,” Mr. Mwandila said.

He said as the number of youth unemployment remains a challenge worldwide, a significant number of youths were being compelled to be creative and take a leap into entrepreneurship.

He said yams were not Zambia’s common staple food and that opting to go into yam production entailed some amount of research and self-education was needed to ensure that the venture of yam production would guarantee a return on the cooperative’s investment.

 “Youths should not wait for Government employment but should rather form cooperative groups that can generate a steady income especially in the production and processing of yams.

 “When youths form cooperatives with the knowledge on yam growing, they will begin to add value to the yams by processing their yams into healthy drinks, coffee, and also pound it and sell. Yams are very nutritious. They are rich in antioxidants and vitamins such as B6, C, and E as we process organic yams,” he said. He added that one of the lead causes of diseases was poor nutrition but that yams were a good source of nutrition hence the reason people liked the juice made out of yam adding that partnering with and investing in youths was one way to stimulate growth in the agriculture sector.