THE PLATFORM

  Zambia: Farmers turn to gliricidia to improve soil fertility Raphael Banda   |  June 11, 2023 soil-fertility Share this: Twitter Facebook Download this story It’s a cool morning around 10 o’clock, with a clear blue sky. The wind is blowing gently and Josephine Tembo is busy inspecting her maize crops that are intercropped with a tree called  Gliricidia sepium . The 53-year-old farmer looks at the maize cobs full of smiles because she is sure she’ll have a bumper harvest. Mrs. Tembo plucks a dry maize cob from a nearby stalk and whistles a joyful tune. She continues checking moisture on the cobs to determine the right time to start harvesting. She says: “I learned about the benefits of intercropping maize with gliricidia in 2016 on Radio Breeze in Chipata, here in Zambia. I tried it the same farming season and the harvest was very good.” Mrs. Tembo is a small-scale farmer who lives in Kakumbi village in Mambwe district, about 120 kilometres from Chipata city in the ...

 By Raphael Banda May 1st 2023-Zambia. For journalism/radio training/ facilitation/consultancy bandaraphael55@gmail.com +260979208286 President Hakainde Hichilema today led the the 2023 Labour Day commemorations in Lusaka and called for hard work and collaborations among the workers, employers federation of Zambia and the government to foster economic development growth. Earlier, Chama North Member of Parliament Yotamu Mtayachalo issued the statement below. "Fellow country men and women as a former trade union leader may I take this rare opportunity to" congratulate our working class in the country and the world at large for commemorating labour day which is an important event on the worker's international calendar. This important day is celebrated world wide by workers to appreciate the important role they play in the economic development of any country and such the working class globally takes this opportunity to reflect on their achievements and also challenges in vari...

  ACC moves in -April 13th 2023 BY Raphael Banda ACC RESTRICTS PROPERTIES WORTH OVER K400 MILLION  The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has revealed that it has seized and restricted properties worth over K400 million in its current crusade against graft. Giving a quarterly report for the first quarter of 2023, the commission said as at March 31,  the commission was investigating over 1,000 corruption cases. “During the quarter, the Commission received a total of 113 reports of suspected corruption. Of these cases, 110 reports contained elements of corruption and were authorized for investigations, while three were pending further action. 28 arrests were also affected during the quarter. As at close of the quarter, the Commission had 1,341 cases under investigations,”ACC Public Relations Manager Timothy Moono said in a statement. He highlighted the conviction of Former  Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) Managing Director, Samuel Bwalya as among the key points in the f...

 By Raphael Banda CEEC PARTNERS WITH AIRTEL MONEY ZAMBIA FOR DISBURSMENTS & REPAYMENTS OF LOANS The Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) has partnered with Airtel Money Zambia to quicken the process of disbursing and receiving repayments of business loans.The partnership was announced today and comes into effect immediately. CEEC Director General, Dr Muwe Mungule said that the partnership is providing real value by enabling CEEC clients on the Airtel network to repay their CEEC business loans through a secure, fast and convenient manner. “We are certainly delighted with this partnership with Airtel Money as it gives CEEC clients, not only marketeers a modern-day experience with CEEC. Going forward, the Commission would like to increase its technology touch points for better service delivery,” Dr Mungule said. Speaking at the signing event, Country Director for Airtel Mobile Commerce (Airtel Money) Mr. Andrew Chuma said the Airtel Money business had seen growth in...

  Load shedding hits the manufacturing sector in Zambia. Jan11 th 2023. By Raphael Banda The Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) has noted   the efforts that the Government is putting in place to mitigate the challenges associated with load shedding in the country. In the statement, the association observed that hydro remains the main source of energy in Zambia contributing about 81.5% to the total national installed electricity capacity as of 2021. However, the Association expressed concern with the inconsistencies in the communication regarding the number of hours of load shedding and adherence thereto Load shedding came into effect on 3rd January 2023 . “ On 8th January 2023, another statement was issued announcing a reduction in the power outage period from 12 hours to 6 hours effect 9th January 2023.Despite this split in the power outage period, the effect on the sector is still immense. Load shedding has increased production costs for most manufacturers ...

 January 8th 2023. Information Source: Clarence Moonde Muzyamba-ZEHEST Executive Director With only 8 days in the new year 2023,ZESCO has introduced  12 hours of loadshedding which is  being implemented since 1st January,2023.   According to Government,this is happening because water levels have gone down at KARIBA dam where power is generated. People have reacted differently. The new dawn , whilst in opposition then,did promise that once they are voted into office,they will end loadshedding, infact they actually said "Loadshedding will be a thing of the past. Are we in  the past?is the question many Zambians are asking. As  Zambian Empowerment hub for Entrepreneurship and Skills training (ZEHEST)and as Entrepreneurs, ours is to find and provide solutions. So we took to the streets of Lusaka and visited a number of communities to check on how people but more so small medium enterprises (SME,s) have been affected by this Loadshedding. What we found is a...

  AFAP LAUNCHES REGIONAL PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIALOGUE SERIES ON THE FUTURE OF FERTILIZER AND AGRO-INPUTS IN AFRICA     Dateline: LUSAKA, ZAMBIA Wednesday, 7 December 2022 — Lead: This document details the launch   of   of the AFAP Regional Public Private dialogue series themed ‘The future of fertilizer and agro-inputs in Africa’ which will be convened in four regions (Sub-Saharan, East, West, and Northern Africa) between December 2022 and March 2023. The AFAP PPDs are consultations between government and the private sector to identify and resolve policy and regulatory constraints to the commercial supply of fertilizer in African countries.             The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) in partnership   the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), a Specialised Agency of the with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) have launched th...