A comprehensive farmer registration programme is fundamental to moving the sector forward. The Government needs to know who the farmers are, where they are and what they are producing. Thereafter, this information must be used as a basis to plan for the development of the sector

Listening to farmers

We have been listening to the farmers. We will be doubling the number of extension officers operating under the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) so as to provide more technical support to our farmers.

The Spanish government will be assisting us to establish the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Technology in Agriculture at our Bodles Research Station. This facility will benefit from a US$3-million grant from the Spanish government over a three-year period. It will also provide a platform for collaborative research with academia, input suppliers and end-users.

The agricultural sector has been dogged by the failure to consistently produce the quality and quantity of produce required by the end-users. Protected agriculture through greenhouse technology must, therefore, be used to successfully tap into the growing markets, such as tourism, in order to exploit the natural synergies between these two sectors.

Develop cassava, dairy industry

A major challenge of Government is to provide a local substitute for imported starches like rice and wheat. In this regard, another initiative of the Government to address the country's food security is the development of a viable cassava industry. This is not a new crop, but we can do so much more with it.

The dairy industry has been devastated as a result of the liberalisation policies of the early 1990s. Now that we no longer have access to subsidised milk powder imports from Europe, the country does not have the capacity to respond to the people's nutritional needs. Our resuscitation programme, therefore, seeks to rebuild the productive capacity, and it is also critical to our larger food security programme.

This Government believes that we must return to the days when householders grew a little something for themselves in their backyards. We must get back to basics.

As part of our response, the Government will be implementing an Urban Backyard Garden Programme. The project will assist residents throughout urban centres to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs in small spaces in their backyards or other community spaces.