Luampa gets cassava milling plant

GOVERNMENT has given Luampa district a cassava milling plant to promote cassava growing in the area as an alternative crop to maize, District Agriculture Coordinator (DACO) Pias Mambo said yesterday.

Mr Mambo said in an interview that cassava was a visible crop in the district and farmers had been growing it for some time but without a viable market where they could sale the crop.

He said with the cassava milling plant now in place, the district would start producing cassava meal on a commercial scale. "As a district, we have received a cassava milling plant from the government and in the next six months, the plant will be operational.

"We have recruited about 6, 000 farmers that will spearhead the growing of cassava at commercial level.

We want to promote cassava meal as an alternative to maize meal," he said. Mr Mambo said that Luampa, just like Mangango and Kaoma districts, was well known for cassava growing.

He said that the onus was on farmers to change their mind-set and see cassava as a replacement for maize.

"It needs a change of the

It needs a change of the mind-set of the famers to make use of the plant. As far as we are concerned as a district, everybody appreciates cassava meal and in future maize will not survive in this region especially with issues of climate change.” — Mr Mambo.

mind-set of the famers make use of the plant.

As far as we are concerned as a district, everybody appreciates cassava meal and in future maize will not survive in this region especially with issues of climate change," Mr Mambo said to