Zambia has planned to raise its allocations for the agriculture sector in the budget to at least 8. 0 percent by the year 2010 from the current 5.3 percent, according to the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP).

The government said the increase in allocation will bring the country closer to the Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC) and Maputo declaration to raise the ratio of domestic agricultural budgets to around 10 percent.

The government said in the 2006-2010 plan that low spending on the sector over the decade has resulted in high and repeated livestock disease incidences and agricultural support infrastructure being run down.

Due to these factors, the government said that agricultural productivity has been low and that poverty levels have been high especially in rural areas.

The government spending on agriculture has been less than 5 percent of the government budget and less than 1.0 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The FNDP seeks to reserve this trend by appropriately financing agriculture investment and development so as to accelerate growth and poverty reduction.

A consultative meeting is being held here on the five-year plan.

Source: Xinhua