ZDA to conclude negotiations with the winner of the tender to develop Nansanga farm block
TIME PUBLISHED - Sunday, January 8, 2012, 10:00 pm
THE Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) is this week expected to conclude negotiations with Bonafarm Group which won the tender to develop Nansanga farm block’s anchor core venture plot.
Over 10 local and international companies bidded for the development of the Nansanga farm block in Serenje district in Central Province.
Among the companies that bidded for the Nansanga development are Polyserve Fertilizer from Egypt, Bonafarm Group from Hungary, Sable Transport Limited from Zambia, and Sea Agriculture Group from the United Kingdom.
In an interview, ZDA acting director-general Florence Mumba said the Hungarian investor is expected in the country this week to conclude the deal for anchor core venture in Nansanga farm block.
Nansanga farm block, a 155,000-hectare area, is part of government’s programme to open up viable farm blocks in various parts of the country to be involved in primary production and value addition.
Mrs Mumba said the Hungarian investor is expected to provide technical and financial capacity to establish a processing plant and add valuation for the farm block.
The Nansanga farm block design includes one core venture (10,000 hectares), commercial farms ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 hectares and smallholdings of about 30 -300 hectares.
She said 310 small farms have been allocated to Zambian investors who are expected to pay for the survey diagrams.
“The farm block is ready for investors, farming should start as soon as people get their survey diagrams,” she said.
Mrs Mumba said works done by government at the farm block include electrification, construction of dams, bridges and access road to the area.
She said the anchor investor will be expected to put up more infrastructures in the farm block such as access roads because Government has not done much.
Nansanga farm block is a plateau, dominated by Miombo woodlands with between 700-1,000 mm average annual rainfall.
Maize, beans, soya beans, groundnuts, Virginia tobacco, rice, tea, sunflower, finger millet, coffee, wheat and oil seeds are suitable crops for the area.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Labels: FDI, NANSANGA FARM, ZDA
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Foreign investors dominate bids for Nansanga Bloc
By Ndinawe Simpelwe
Mon 21 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT
FOREIGN investors have dominated the 16 bids received by Zambia Development Agency for development of Nansanga Farm Bloc in Serenje. Of the 16 applications received, only six were from Zambia while the rest were from foreign investors.
Government invited applications for the pre-qualification to participate in the acquisition of agricultural land in the Nansanga Farm Bloc for the purpose of developing an agribusiness core venture and three commercial farms.
Nansanga Farm Bloc project has 9,350 hectares of arable virgin land earmarked for agribusiness core venture with three more farms of 1,620, 2,571 and 3,959 hectares available for commercial farming.
Equator Farms Zambia Limited, Sable Transport Limited, Kapekele Investments Limited, Afgri Corporation, SEEDCO and PROFERT Zambia were the only six local firms that applied.
The foreign firms include Sea Agriculture, Equator Investment and Chayton Capital all from the UK.
Others are Crookes Brothers from South Africa, Polyserve Fertilisers and Chemicals of Egypt, Bonafarm group of Hungary, Pro Alia Investments of Mauritius, Scipio of Switzerland and Yuan Longpin Hightech agriculture from China.
ZDA manager for privatisation Henry Sakala said the agency was looking for investors who would not go to speculate on Zambian land but those with a long term plan.
“The concept of the farm block will change the landscape of farming because we have left spaces deliberately for commercial and social purposes. The farms at the farm bloc are expected to have an outgrower scheme. This is good for the development of the country,” Sakala said.
He said the Nansanga Farm Bloc was one of the critical farm blocs that the government had put up for development.
“This is just one of the many farm blocs that will be developed. It is just the first of the nine farm blocs we have around the country,” Sakala said.
And deputy director for technical services at the ministry of agriculture Henry Sichembe said the ministry was working with the local authority to plan on how to meet the demands as the farm bloc developed.
Sichembe said there were specific areas left out within the farming bloc, which were meant for planning as activities increased in the bloc.
“Of course we expect demands for social activities to rise as the farm bloc develops. We have areas meant for schools, clinics and other social needs,” Sichembe said.
He also expressed satisfaction with the number of applications received.
“The quantity of applications doesn’t matter but the quality of the applications. Looking at the kind of advert we ran and the outcome of the applications, I can say it is a good number,” said Sichembe.
Labels: FDI, NANSANGA FARM, ZDA
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Zambia prepares model farm as mining alternative
Mon Feb 2, 2009 3:00pm GMT
LUSAKA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Zambia is completing a model farm meant to encourage economic diversification from copper and cobalt mining to agriculture, finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said on Monday.
The 155,000-hectre Nansanga farm will be ready for foreign and local investors this year as the country pushes to grow more export crops to reduce dependency of copper exports, he said.
Musokotwane said an initial 42.4 billion kwacha ($9.19 million) had been allocated in the budget he unveiled last Friday for infrastructure development at Nansanga.
"In terms of electricity, I can confidently say we are 80 percent done with the works," he said.
"What we need is electricity for irrigation farming and there is money provided in the budget to do roads and dams, which will be for our small scale farmers while we will let the big (farmers) to sort themselves out.
Another 56.5 billion kwacha was be used by small scale farmers countrywide to grow export crops, mainly maize, he said.
Musokotwane said part of the Nansanga land would be awarded to European investors keen to grow crops for biofuels and that the government would soon engage contractors to do roads and dams to ensure there is irrigation farming all year round.
The global financial crisis has hit copper exports and Zambia has said its economy cannot continue to rely on the copper industry, the country's economic mainstay.
(Reporting by Shapi Shacinda)
Labels: FARM BLOCS, FARMING, NANSANGA FARM
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