Press releases

Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Visits ITC Headquarters

30 November 2010
ITC News

 

Partnership to boost the agricultural sector

The Zambian Minister of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Mr Peter M. W. Daka, visited the International Trade Centre (ITC) headquarters in Geneva last week to explore opportunities for partnering with ITC to take advantage of its long experience in upgrading the supply capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises and linking them to markets, in order to support his country’s agricultural exports.

Zambia has a considerable agricultural potential. Only this year, the country recorded an exceptional maize harvest of 2.7 million tons, of which one million is to be absorbed by domestic consumption. The surplus is to be exported and the country is looking for buyers.

After meeting the visiting minister, ITC Executive Director Patricia R. Francis said: “ITC will facilitate key buyers of cereals, including private sector companies based in Europe, in sourcing from Zambia and Africa in general, targeting especially cooperatives and women, as an engine for the country’s and the continent’s economic growth .”

The agriculture sector is vital for economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa, representing 70% of the continent’s full-time employment, 33% of its GDP and 40% of its export earnings.

However, one of the key challenges is the fragmented nature of agricultural markets along national and regional value chains, which limits exports to international and intra-regional markets. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) estimates that only about 20% to 25% of Africa’s agricultural production is marketed.

In Zambia, the growth of the agricultural sector has been undermined by its dual nature, consisting of emerging large-scale commercial farming and traditional subsistence farming, which occupies the majority of the rural population and accounts for most agricultural land use, but has low value addition and limited processing systems.

The Government of Zambia has been working with its development partners to enhance the growth of the sector by building production capacities along the national agricultural value chain, and by integrating it into regional and global value chains.

As well as private sector companies, other prominent international buyers of cereals are UN agencies and NGOs, for their aid relief programmes in Africa and the rest of the world. Through its Buying from Africa for Africa initiative, ITC has worked with trade support institutions, the private sector and aid agencies to increase the share of vendors from African countries in aid procurement. The materials and information gathered through this initiative have been shared with the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives of Zambia.

Source: Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IV: Enhancing Intra-African Trade, Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

Source: Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IV: Enhancing Intra-African Trade, Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

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