THERE IS HOPE IN THE 2020 NATIONAL BUDGET

In every situation that is presented to the general public that is consisting of approximately 17 million people, critics will arise to give their various position on the issue. The newly presented Zambian budget is one such a document that has attracted the attention of the people because they are dependent on how the budget will be implemented. However, there is hope in the unveiled K106.0 billion 2020 budget by the Minister of Finance Bwalya Ng’andu in parliament which has increased from K86.8 billion in 2019 budget.

The budget has increased the allocation to the defense sector from 5.8 percent in 2019 to 6.2 percent in 2020, a trend that has been going up since 2018 budget presentation. Some of the critics argue that Zambia is not at war with any of the neighbouring countries, yes this may sound true but a deeper analysis reveals otherwise.

The University of Zambia Political and Administrative Studies Lecturer, Evans Daka said the budget increase in the defense should translates that the Zambia National Service (ZNS) with its massive machinery will invest in agricultural inputs production. The costs of ZNS is hugely covered by government as recently explained by President Edgar Lungu to parliament.

Mr Daka said the huge of the funds should be channeled to improve agriculture to purchase heavy equipment as stipulated in the budget.

“This entails that the Service can produce agricultural inputs at a very low cost thereby resulting in passing on low input prices to local farmers in the country. This can further give impetus to ZNS to process various crops from farmers into high grade foods and other important commodities a competitive price by allowing it to out compete with the foreign multi – national companies,” said Mr Daka.

Mr Daka observed that the Zambia National Services has massive and fertile lands wherever their camps are dotted around in the country and their efforts in the agriculture cannot be over emphasized. This could be the channel we can embark on as a country to import substitution and create linkages with the private manufacturing firms as we work towards claiming a share of the local and regional markets. This budget allocation if fully utilized can expand the irrigation infrastructure in the country including winter maize growing at an affordable cost. The late Levy Mwanawasa administration tried to diversify agriculture into winter maize cultivation and there was plenty of maize some of which ended up rotting in the storage sheds.

The Political Analyst said that it was not by surprise that today our country is engulfed in acute hunger where half of the population is wallowing in abject poverty due to climate change, so strengthening ZNS with good budgetary allocations will make the Service embark on new ideas of reviving the agriculture sector. He said over the years, the government tried to put as many farmers as possible on the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) which has been rolled to all the entire 113 districts of the country. But alas! The produce has not been as effective as the government and many players intend it to be.

Mr Daka said that every year the Food Reserve Agency (FRA)’s purchases the most consumed grain in Zambia has not reached its target as also private and brief case businessmen do buy from same local farmers.  

And Indaba Agriculture Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), Executive Director Chance Kabaghe said the biggest challenge of our time we face as a country is not physical but economic that needed concerted efforts by all players. He said the whole essence of increasing budgetary allocation to the defense is to move in and ensure that the agricultural production is boosted as the FISP activities are not filling up the food basket required by the citizens.

“If the sector is subsidized with this type of allocation, the economy could have been afloat and cushion some of the crises the country is undergoing currently. The farming community should be commercially minded farmers and take the climate change as real and diversify especially the advantage of the indication that there would be good rainfall in the 2019/2020farming season,” said Mr Kabaghe.

The agriculture sector has been the back bone of the economy alongside mining in the country. The PF government’s resolve in pumping more money will rekindle the once viable sector and the more we realized this as a country the because we cannot be now and then relying on importing food items from foreign countries when we have enough surface and ground water that can water our farm all year round. Zambia’s population is now being approximated to be at over 16 million people hence the quicker we pump money into viable sectors of our economy the better so that we stop importing and channel that resource into other programmes.  It’s long time that the country through its clear policies should also starting investing and reflecting in sustainable investment in building infrastructure in climate smart agricultural diversification.

Economist Yusuf Dodia said the steady budgetary allocations to the defense are critical as they enhance employment opportunities among the people in the sector. If the sector employs many people, the tax base of the government will be widened hence resulting in pushing money in circulation and the contraction of debts would reduce as the government will have enough resources to carter for other accrued expenditures.

Mr Dodia observed that when the country becomes food secure that will translate in less diseases and the country will have healthy citizens. And a healthy nation means that government will drastically reduce its expenditure on the procurement of drugs from foreign countries.

Mr Dodia said as ZNS booms in its agricultural programmes it will eventually increase budgetary allocations to other sectors such as health and education as the government coffers will have enough to embark into infrastructure buildings. He said with a tax waver on aquaculture products for the next three years, the country will also boom in the small businesses enterprises.

The Economist has implored those involved to prudently use the funds allocated to the defense accountably in order to produce more food in the country. He said Zambia is sitting on a land full of potential and abundant resources that can attract foreign investment in order to alleviate poverty and become food secure among the people.

Mr Dodia said overcoming the problems, we face today and advancing the interests of the people requires collective commitment to implement ambitious activities that are aimed at improving the living standards of people especially those leaving in the rural parts of the country.