By Machona Kasambala
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) says Zambia is a critical anchor in the development of agricultural food systems in East and Southern Africa Regions.
CIMMYT Associate Programme Director for Sustainable Agri-food Systems PASWEL MARENYA says Zambia possesses the largest arable land in Africa which is critical to the development of sustainable agriculture food systems to improve livelihoods of majority people in Africa.
Dr MARENYA says CIMMYT has been for a long time been carrying out breeding and agronomy programmes on maize in the region and time has now come to look at other agricultural systems in Zambia beyond maize.
He says CIMMYT in collaboration with National Agricultural Research Institutions is working at addressing the challenges affecting the low performance of dryland crops in Africa such as sorghum, millet, groundnuts and pigeon peas.
Dr MARENYA was speaking at Lusaka Intercontinental hotel during the opening of the East and Southern Africa Regional Consultation Conference on identifying pathways to dryland food systems transformation.
The conference has attracted scientists from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and the host, Zambia.
And speaking on behalf of the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute, Senior Agricultural Research Officer in the legumes team, WILLARD SINKALA, says the interventions by CIMMYT will strengthen the institutions efforts to increase production and productivity of dryland crops.
Mr. SINKALA says the transformation of dryland food systems has great potential to sustain livelihood of rural communities who rely on legume crops such as groundnuts and pigeon peas for increased nutrition and food security.
