The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through the HOPE 2 Project has handed over 10 motorbikes worth more than K400,000 to Agriculture Extension Officers serving Meheba Settlement and surrounding host communities in Kalumbila District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking during the handover ceremony in Kalumbila, District Commissioner Brenda Sankisa urged the officers to utilize the motorbikes responsibly and strictly for project-related activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Sankisa said the motorbikes should not be used for personal purposes but to facilitate the effective implementation of the three-year HOPE 2 Project in Meheba Settlement, Shilenda and Matebo Chiefdoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She directed the District Agriculture Coordinator to closely monitor the use of the motorbikes and expressed gratitude to JICA for the support noting that the equipment would significantly enhance service delivery to farmers in the project areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The District Commissioner observed that inadequate transport had previously hampered extension officers’ ability to effectively reach farmers across the vast District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow that you have received these 10 motorbikes for the project areas in Meheba Settlement, Shilenda and Matebo Chiefdom we expect you to work even harder since the transport challenge has been addressed,\u201d Ms Sankisa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added that the success of the project would largely depend on the commitment and dedication of the extension officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, JIN Corporation Consultant Aimi Sugihara said the HOPE 2 Project is a three-year initiative that commenced in November last year and is aimed at strengthening agricultural support services in refugee settlements and host communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Sugihara disclosed that extension officers working with 11 farmer groups in Meheba Settlement and surrounding communities had recently undergone training under the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She explained that JICA had also provided motorbikes to extension officers in Meheba and Mayukwayukwa to improve their mobility and outreach to farmers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFollowing our research, we discovered that extension officers faced transport challenges in reaching farmers. Since they play a critical role in training farmers and sharing agricultural knowledge, we decided to provide these motorbikes to improve their outreach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Ministry of Agriculture Principal Economist Dennis Munachusa said the ministry fully supports the activities being implemented by JICA through the HOPE 2 Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Munachusa noted that the motorbikes would complement government efforts to ensure farmers receive timely extension services through improved mobility for officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He commended JICA for its continued support to government programmes and urged the beneficiaries to properly maintain the motorbikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese motorbikes have been provided at a significant cost. It is important that you pay close attention to their maintenance so that they continue serving farmers for a long time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North-western Province Principal Agriculture Officer Simborashe Mubambwe also thanked JICA for the support, describing the handover as a significant milestone that would enhance agricultural extension services in the Meheba project area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Mubambwe further commended JICA for supporting farmers through horticultural production initiatives in the targeted camps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Senior Agricultural Officer Moseni Mwaba expressed gratitude to JICA, saying the motorbikes would enable extension officers to reach more farmers, particularly those in remote areas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through the HOPE 2 Project has handed over 10 motorbikes worth more than K400,000 to Agriculture Extension Officers serving Meheba Settlement and surrounding host communities in Kalumbila District. Speaking during the handover ceremony in Kalumbila, District Commissioner Brenda Sankisa urged the officers to utilize the motorbikes responsibly and strictly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-latestnewsright","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4577,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4566\/revisions\/4577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}