Empowering young people with agricultural skills vital – First Lady

By Staff Reporter 

First Lady Esther Lungu says empowering young people with agricultural skills is important because it is a lifelong skill. 

She said this when she graced the sixth Heifer International Zambia passing-on-the-gift ceremony on Thursday. 

Mrs. Lungu pointed that given the support they deserve, youths have the potential to significantly contribute to the national development through sectors such as agriculture. 

She said government has therefore put in place rigorous youth empowerment programmes across the country so as to empower youths. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs. Lungu commended Heifer International Zambia for having empowered 32 families with 69 heifers in two batches in 2000 and 2002 with a mandate to pass on the first female offspring to the next needy family. 

The number of beneficiaries and heifers have increased from 32 to 145 families and from 69 to 1,044 heifers respectively, within a period of 15 years. 

The primary target of Heifer International Zambia project, which started 15 years ago, are youths and young families. 

And Heifer International Zambia country director James Kasongo said his organization is committed to complementing Government’s efforts to end hunger and poverty through contributing to the growth of the livestock sector in Zambia. 

Mr Kasongo said that the provision of livestock, training, product quality improvement and linking the small-scale producers to profitable agricultural commodity value chains is done by working with underprivileged rural communities, especially women and youths. 

 He  added that the project has covered 14 villages out 52 and that 38 more villages need to be covered.