VIOLET MENGO
Lusaka
April, 20 2016
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| NODA |
IN LINE with the agreed Yokohama Action Plan (2013 -2017), Japan has continued to play a key role in Zambia’s development through the implementation of different projects in various parts of the country.
In 2013, in Yokohama, Japan, the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD5) agreed on seven main categories of action, spelling out goals to be achieved and specific measures to be implemented by TICAD participants which started in 1993 and this year, it will be held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Throughout this action plan, greater attention is given to Africa’s own efforts of its development agenda.
The main areas include:
- Boosting economic growth
- Accelerating infrastructure and capacity developments
- Empowering farmers as mainstream economic actors
- Promoting sustainable and resilient growth
- Consolidating peace, stability, democracy and good governance
- Creating an inclusive society for growth
Follow up mechanism
In Zambia, the Japanese Government, through the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA), has continued to play a key role in enhancing economic development.
JICA chief representative Hisanao Noda says the Japanese Government has set up a country assistant policy for each developing country through which it gives support.
Mr Noda says in collaboration with Zambian authorities, Japan has already set up the country assistant policy for Zambia.
The main target for Japanese assistant, to Zambia is the promotion of sustainable economic growth of a diversified economy because currently, the Zambian economy is dependent on mining, especially copper.
“Since the price of copper became low, the Zambian economy has been affected very much. Our aim is to help diversify the economy through development of industries other than mining and enhancement of agricultural production,” Mr Noda says.
Japan’s main policy, he says, has three pillars from which the country gives technical support to Zambia.
The first one is the vitalisation of the private sector, and according to Mr Noda, this is directly connected to diversification of the economy.
The pillar has two parts: the private sector development of industries and the development of the agricultural sector.
The pillar on agriculture focuses on improving productivity and stabilising production in domestic manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
Mr Noda says Japan is supporting business expansion, enhancing export competitiveness and improving quality and productivity of micro, small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing sector as this plays roles in the diversification of the economy.
To date, Japan, through a project for community-based smallholder irrigation, is supporting farmers to improve their food security by diversifying and increasing their food production through application of community-based irrigation systems.
The project, which started in 2013 in Northern, Luapula and Muchinga provinces, is expected to wind up in June 2017.
Mr Noda says the community-based smallholder irrigation project has proved to be a highly efficient approach due to its low cost, manageability and swift return of the investment. The project has already opened up 572 hectares of irrigated land in two dry seasons.
The project is also effective in areas that are not suitable for large- scale irrigation.
Mr Noda is concerned that Zambians are growing maize everywhere at the expense of diversifying to other crops.
“We need diversification of the crops, we are trying to make the value chain of new crops like rice and soya beans,” he says.
In partnership with the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) and the Ministry of Agriculture, JICA has started a rice cultivation development project and the models for demonstration have already started.
Once good land for cultivation is secured, rice cultivation will start and the promotion of the initiative will be extended to farmers.
Mr Noda says Zambia is importing rice from Thailand because the production level locally is very low despite the demand for rice increasing every year.
This scenario prompted the partnership among JICA, ZARI and the Ministry of Agriculture to promote growing of rice which is aimed at cushioning the importation of rice from Thailand.
The second pillar is to improve basic infrastructure for economic activities.
Mr Noda says due to the fact that every industry needs basic infrastructure such as for electricity, water and transportation for trade, Japan has continued to play a key role in these areas.
“We are focusing on two main projects in these areas which are transport and energy,” he points out.
Mr Noda says recently, JICA started undertaking a new design study for the urban water supply for the city of Lusaka.
He says this kind of infrastructure development needs foreign investment hence the involvement of Japan in this area.
JICA is also developing transport network, both road and railway, which is expected to significantly contribute to reducing the costs of transporting products such as those from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. An example of this is the Kazungula bridge construction project.
In the energy sector, JICA, through Zesco, is helping to improve people’s access to electricity in rural areas by constructing distribution lines in seven provinces of the country.
The project, which started in 2008, is expected to be completed in 2018 by which time living standards of rural people will have been improved.
And the third pillar is about the development of human resources.
“Good quality human resources are required to develop the industry. In this concept, we are focussing on education, health, and water and sanitation to improve the standard of living of the people of Zambia,” Mr Hisanao shares.
JICA’s role in this pillar has been to improve the quality of basic education through enhancement of teachers’ performance and skills through continued professional development.
In the area of water provision, JICA, through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, has constructed borehole water supply facilities fitted with hand pumps in 176 sites in six districts in Luapula Province for phase III.
Through grant aid, Japan has helped organise village water, sanitation and hygiene education committees as well as village sensitisation activities regarding water facilities’ maintenance and sanitation.
And Mr Noda says in 2015 alone, JICA Zambia spent about one billion Japanese yen (about K94 million) on technical co-operation in Zambia.
He says these financial resources do not include grant aid or concessional loan but are merely part of Japan’s technical assistance to Zambia.
This year, JICA is again expected to spend about K94 million on technical co-operation throughout the country.
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