By Mwansa Kaumba
NRPUP leader Brian Mundubile says the farmers who feed the country are the same ones who go hungry as they have been forced year after year to endure delayed payments, escalating fertilizer prices and uncertainty over markets.
Speaking on today’s Farmers Day, Mundubile argued that instead of rewarding those who produce our food, the system has too often punished them.
“The men and women who rise before dawn. The hands that till the soil. The families who endure scorching heat, drought, floods and uncertainty so that the rest of us can eat. Our farmers do not simply grow crops.They grow hope. They grow jobs. They grow Zambia,” Mundubile stated. “On this Farmers’ Day, I salute every small-scale farmer, every commercial farmer, every livestock keeper, every fisher, every poultry producer and every young person choosing agriculture as a business. Your sacrifice feeds our nation and keeps our economy alive.
He stated that the very people who drive the economy were too often the ones left waiting.
“A nation that neglects its farmers undermines its own future. The NRPUP says enough is enough.
We believe agriculture is not a poverty programme. Agriculture is Zambia’s greatest economic opportunity,” Mundubile stated. “Our vision is bold. We shall transform agriculture from subsistence to prosperity. From exporting raw produce to exporting finished products. From producing crops alone to producing wealth. From farming for survival to farming for success. Under an NRPUP Government, agriculture will become one of the largest creators of jobs and one of the biggest contributors to Zambia’s Gross Domestic Product.”
He stated that farmers would receive inputs on time and transparently under his administration.
“We will expand irrigation so that farming is no longer held hostage by the rains. We will improve access to affordable finance, strengthen extension services, open up markets and invest in modern storage and transport infrastructure.
Most importantly, we will drive value addition and industrialization across every province.
Instead of exporting maize, we will produce breakfast cereals, stock feed and starch.
Instead of exporting soya beans, we will produce cooking oil, animal feed and industrial products,” Mundubile stated. “Instead of selling live animals, we will expand meat processing, leather production and dairy industries. Instead of exporting opportunity, we will create jobs here at home. Every district has the potential to become an agro-industrial hub. Every province can become a center of production. Every young person can find dignity and prosperity in agriculture. That is how we will reduce the cost of living, not through promises, but through increased production, stronger value chains, and thriving local industries. Our message to Zambia’s farmers is simple: You deserve respect. You deserve fair prices.
You deserve timely support. You deserve a government that works as hard as you do,”
He urged young people that their future was not in the offices, but in the fields, fisheries, orchards and livestock enterprises and agro-processing factories.
“Agriculture is not the past. Agriculture is the future. As we celebrate Farmers’ Day, let us unite around one national mission: to make Zambia the food basket and agro-industrial powerhouse of Southern Africa. Together, we can build a nation where no farmer is forgotten, no harvest is wasted, and no family goes hungry,” stated Mundubile. “Together, we can build a Zambia where those who feed the nation finally share in its prosperity. To every farmer across our beloved country, thank you. Zambia honors you. We in NRPUP stand with you.
