By Kakoma Chayinda

The National Assembly of Zambia Committee on Agriculture, Land and Natural Resources has commended climate change campaigners for promoting organic farming in Sinazongwe district of Southern Province.

The Zambia Climate Change Network, Green Living Movement and Pelum Zambia partnered with Kalubi Development Foundation of Sinazongwe district to equip small-scale farmers with financial support and knowledge on Argo-ecological farming.

Speaking during a tour of selected organic farms in the district, Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Land and Natural Resources, Yotam Mutayachalo stated there need for farmers to use organic fertilisers which would reduce their production costs associated with conventional farming.

Mr Mutayachalo, who is also Member of Parliament for Chama North, explains that for years now, the nation has been grappling with diseases caused by genetically modified foods such as cancer and malnutrition and that using organic fertiliser to grow crops will boost the nutritional levels of the county.

“The benefit that comes with organic farming is that people are earning a living as they are not spending a lot on chemical fertilizers and also these years, we have seen many diseases because of the food that we eat so there is need for our farmers to grow more food using organic materials,” Mr Mutayachalo said during the tour.

Another Member of the Committee, Andrew Tayengwa, who is also Kabwata Member of Parliament, praised organic farmers of Sinazongwe district for utilising organic materials such as tree leaves, and chicken and goat droppings as manure.

“There is need to encourage more farmers beyond the district to transition to organic farming,” he said.

Mr Tayengwa urged the government to consider promoting organic farming. This approach will save the nation money spent on procuring inorganic fertilisers instead, funds can be channeled to other needy areas.

“As you may be aware, government spends a lot of money buying fertiliser every year, so if organic farming is promoted, government will be able to save money that will be taken to other sectors like Education and Health,” he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the tour, Team Leader for the three Non-Government Organizations, Emmanuel Mutamba explained that the use of Non-synthetic fertiliser has been found to benefit small-scale farmers as materials used to make organic fertiliser is readily available,  it is also cheaper than chemical fertilizer.

Mr Mutamba, who is Country Coordinator for Green Living Movement, emphasized the need for government to play a proactive role in supporting smallholder farmers engaged in organic farming in order to encourage more farmers to stop using chemicals in their fields.

“It is important that the organic farmers are supported by government through formulating policies that encourage farmers to use organic fertiliser than depending on chemicals, which is way cheaper as materials used in organic farming are within farmers themselves unlike buying chemical fertiliser which is destroying their fields,” Mr Mutamba emphasized.

A farmer of Maamba in Sinazongwe district, Priscilla Gonde explained that since she began using organic fertilizer in 2019, she has doubled her production yields. She said plants produced through organic farming have a long shelf life compared to those produced with chemical fertiliser.

Ms Gonde called on her fellow farmers to cut their production costs by venturing into organic farming. She added that she makes more profit now than previously when she was using the conventional method of farming.

“I used to make losses when I was using chemical fertilisers because it was expensive and also the crops had a short shelf life which required quickly selling the produce,” she said.

She explained that at times it was difficult to sale produce which would eventually go bad.

However, since she started using organic manure, she is able to sell even seven days after harvesting vegetables as they would still be fresh.

These testimonies are an indication that organic farming is profitable hence the need for government and various climate campaigners to continue supporting this cause.