The Socialist Party President, Dr. Fred M’membe, has voiced the concerns of Zambian farmers, who are grappling with extensive power outages that threaten their livelihoods. In a recent post, Dr. M’membe conveyed a heartfelt plea from farming communities to President Hakainde Hichilema, highlighting the critical impact of load shedding on their ability to implement irrigation farming.
Dr. M’membe shared a message from a distressed farmer, emphasizing the dire situation faced by those in the agricultural sector. According to the farmer, the daily power cuts, lasting between 18 to 20 hours, make it nearly impossible to pump water into storage facilities, a process that typically requires 6 to 12 hours of continuous electricity. This has severely hindered efforts to enhance irrigation farming, despite the government’s initiatives.
“Mr. Hichilema, you have come up with good initiatives for farmers to enhance irrigation farming. This is excellent, and we are ready to take up the challenge,” the farmer wrote. “However, if we are being load shedded for 18 to 20 hours daily, just how are we going to access water and pump it into our storage facilities to actualise your irrigation farming dream?”
The appeal also addresses the practical challenges of transitioning to solar power, a solution suggested by President Hichilema. The farmer pointed out that, given the recent drought and subsequent crop losses, many farmers lack the capital to invest in both irrigation equipment and solar energy systems. The high commercial lending rates further exacerbate the issue, leaving farmers without access to affordable credit facilities necessary for such investments.
“Here is a farmer who has lost nearly all his crop harvest due to the drought. He now needs to buy irrigation equipment and invest in solar energy. In the real world, where will such a farmer find the capital to do all these things?” the farmer questioned. “Where are concession credit facilities for farmers, given that we cannot afford the prevailing high commercial lending rates?”
The message from the farming community also criticized the government’s approach to implementing policies and the perceived disconnect between proposed solutions and real-world feasibility. The farmer urged President Hichilema to focus on practical measures that can improve their current conditions rather than discussing long-term plans that seem out of reach.
Source: Lusakatimes
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