A delegation from Argentina will be in Zambia from 18th to 21st March, 2015 for talks with Government officials aimed at reviving cooperation in the field of agriculture between the two countries. The visit is a follow-up to last year’s bilateral meetings that the Zambia High Commission in South Africa had with the Argentine Government on Scientific and Technological cooperation in the Field of agriculture.
The delegation will comprise officials from the Embassy of Argentina in South Africa, Argentine Ministry of Agriculture and the Argentine National Institute of Agriculture Technology- INTA (INTA is an Argentine organization whose mission is to foster innovations in agricultural and livestock, agro-food and agro-industrial sectors).
Zambia and Argentina, in 2008, signed a memorandum of understanding in agriculture whose modalities of cooperation included joint identification of scientific and technical priority areas, formulation and implementation of joint research programmes and exchange of experiences and know-how from research programmes.
The visit is aimed at firming-up bilateral cooperation and also to discuss with the Ministry of Agriculture in Zambia how the Argentine Government could share and also extend free technological expertise in order to increase agricultural productivity.
This technical assistance is linked to conservation agriculture, precision farming and no-till planting and farming technics. With this type of farming, farmers can conserve and protect the land, at the same time the farmer increases their yields by over 300%, and considerably reduces the cost of farming.
Argentina is one of the largest food producing, food exporting and most technologically advanced countries in agriculture after the United States of America. Agriculture contributes over 70% of that country’s export earnings.
Large private farming companies from Argentina have expressed interest in the Zambian agricultural sector. Meetings have been arranged with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI). The delegation will also visit the Agriculture Technology Demonstration Centre in Chongwe and Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre.
Issued by:
Nicky Shabolyo
PRESS SECRETARY
ZAMBIA HIGH COMMISSION IN PRETORIA
Email: nshabolyo@gmail.com/0027(0)810027548
PRETORIA – TUESDAY, 17TH MARCH, 2015