The government has launched the distribution of hammer mills alongside the on-going relief maize distribution in drought affected rural areas of Zambia.
Kick-starting the launch in Shiwang’andu District in Muchinga Province, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Elias Mubanga said the beneficiaries of food assistance will need hammer mills closer to them rather than walking long distances.
“Our people have been receiving relief food to mitigate the hunger situation in the country. The distribution of hammer mills in rural areas aims to provide communities with access to milling plants locally. So far, we have approved 32 hammer mills for Shiwang’andu, with 10 already delivered”, Mubanga said.
He said the El Nino induced drought has severely impacted all the 84 affected districts, including Shiwangándu.
He added that the hammer mill initiative is a government policy to support citizens through empowerment to address the challenges they face in their communities.
Mubanga said his ministry would also provide cash seed capital to the cooperatives to help them begin their operations.
He, however, implored the cooperatives to protect the hammer mills and urged them to properly maintain the equipment for them to raise the capital required to repay the loans.
He said the government would offer full support to the cooperatives should they encounter challenges.
And Shiwangándu District Commissioner Maureen Bwembya said with this empowerment, women in the district would no longer move long distances to mill their maize, while her counterpart at Chikamoneka Women’s Cooperative chairperson Paschalina Nkole thanked the government for the initiative.