NORAD gives GART $25m to implement farming projects

NORAD gives GART $25m to implement farming projects
By Kabanda Chulu
Friday February 01, 2008 [03:00]

NORAD has committed US $25 million to the Golden-valley Agriculture Research Trust (GART) for the implementation of conservation farming projects across the country. GART will carry out the projects in conjunction with the Conservation Farming Unit (CFU) for five years and target 120,000 farmers in five provinces.

According to a statement released by the Conservation Farming Unit yesterday, NORAD was funding the entire project that would see small-scale farmers being introduced to new techniques and crop rotation systems.

It stated that there was need to introduce Zambian small scale farmers to methods that would preserve soil fertility through growing of plants that were rich in nitrogen nutrients.

“The five-year project worth US $25 million will end in 2012 and it is funded by Norway and will be implemented by GART and CFU across five provinces targeting 120,000 farmers, whom we intend to introduce to new systems of preserving soil fertility through crop rotation,” it stated. “These farmers will also be encouraged to plant crops together with the faidherbia albida (musangu) trees that are rich in nitrogen nutrients hence there will be no need to apply fertilisers since conservation farming entails one to have soil fertility through use of dead leaves and residues.”

It stated that small-scale farmers would also be encouraged to grow cassava and jatropha plants as live fencing for their crops.

The project would be undertaken in Central, Lusaka, Western, Eastern and Southern provinces.