Zambia needs China's assistance in technology and experts to develop agriculture so that it can feed its 11 million people, an agriculture official told a Chinese delegation in Lusaka Monday.

 

Zambia is hardly able to feed itself after more than 40 years of independence although it is bestowed with vast land and abundant water resources, said Minister of Agriculture Mundia Sikatana.

 

He attributed the plight of the country to the backward technology and lack of agricultural experts.

 

The 11-member Chinese delegation led by Wei Jianguo, deputy minister of commerce, and Wan Baorui, a senior agriculture official, is in the country looking into the feasibilities for the two countries' further cooperation in the agricultural sector.

 

Wan said China and Zambia have achieved a lot in the cooperation in the sector.

 

Farms operated by Chinese was set up in Zambia over a decade ago and there are currently a total of 15 state-owned and private Chinese farms in the country, which are playing an important role in contributing to the gross domestic products as well as solving the problem of unemployment.

 

He said the three-day visit was aimed to discuss with the Zambian government the direction of agricultural cooperation and find out new cooperative modalities.

 

Sikatana said China can help Zambia in many ways such as helping build an advanced irrigation system.

 

"Our government intends to establish a system of irrigation to enable Zambia to grow crops throughout the year instead of only in the rainy seasons," Sikatana said.

 

The majority of the country's scattered farmers have no way to engage in crops growing during the dry seasons between April and November as a result of the lack of a well developed irrigation system though abundant water has been stocked underground.

 

Sikatana said China could help Zambia build canals, dams and other irrigation projects with advanced technologies and guidance from Chinese experts.

 

Farmer training is equally important, said Sikatana, adding that the country intends to establish training centers for farmers in all its 72 districts and China can also play a role in this field.

 

"The best we can learn from China is to do like Chinese," Sikatana said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2006)