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GV President Kenneth kaunda of Zambia walking past cattle as crowd look on as he presents awards to prize winners at Lusaka Agricultural Show (3 shots)
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GV Spectators walking around show.
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MV Automatic grain sack loading machine.
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GV ZOOM INTO CU Various agricultural exhibits including tractors, hand-ploughs, water-pumps (4 shots).
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GV PAN Agricultural equipment on display.
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Zambia's maize production meets the country's needs on the home food market an also provides enough for export. There are several agricultural research stations experimenting into new systems of crop production, soil improvement, pest control and land irrigation. At one such station, near Lusaka, research into sunflower seeds has radically increased the oil content of the seeds. Zambia can now produce seeds with twice the oil content of ordinary sunflower seeds.




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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Although Zambia is suffering the effects of the most severe economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1964, the latest crop production figures show that Zambian agriculture is thriving. The country produces six to eight million bags of maize annually, each weighting 90 killogrammes (198 pounds). Zambia's President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, recently announced the improvement in both arable an animal farming at the opening of the 52nd Agricultural Show in the Zambia capital, Lusaka.

SYNOPSIS: President kaunda congratulated farmers exhibiting at the show. He that because of government aid cotton production had increased three-fold over the past three years and many small farms could now afford to grow wheat as well. He described previous failures of the Zambian maize crop an consequent famine as phenomena of the past, and said there were also substantial improvements in groundnut, rice, tea, soya beans and coffee yields. He added that high standards and raised production had been maintained in animal farming.

Many new agricultural tools were on display. There were also international stands form Japan and several European countries. West Germany is involved in the growth of the dairy, beef and pig industry through a development project in southern Zambia. Britain has also recently agreed to grant a 20 million pound (40 million dollar) loan to aid Zambian manufacturing industries and intends to make a further loan to help develop Zambian agriculture. President Kaunda has said he hopes the boom in farm production will alleviate the Zambian financial crisis.