Milenge District Commissioner Allan Mutale has called on Cooperatives in the area to apply for funding through Constituency Development Fund (CDF) so as to increase their productivity.
Mr. Mutale noted that Cooperatives engaged in livestock farming need capital injection in order to establish profitable businesses.
Milenge women in jubilant mood
ZANIS reports that Mr. Mutale said this in a speech read on his behalf by Milenge District Agricultural Coordinator Tom Mwansabamba during the handover ceremony of an incubator to Lobe Cooperative in Katena village.
Mr. Mutale said government is committed to aiding small holder farmers so as to increase food security and nutrition at household level.
“Mechanisation of livestock production is an efficient technological innovation which can triple the current production of chickens in the district. This will in turn result in meaningful returns to the Cooperative for its economic benefit,” he said.
Earlier, Acting Milenge District Fisheries and Livestock Coordinator Kafula Chongo urged Lobe Cooperative members to properly utilise the incubator to raise income.
Mr. Chongo said the incubator has capacity to accommodate 528 eggs at a time.
He stated that the initiative is part of the Enhanced SmallHolder Livestock Investment Programme (ESLIP) adding that the government is in the process of delivering another incubator to a cooperative in Milenge West.
And Lobe Cooperative Chairperson Martin Katatala thanked the government for the gesture.
Mr. Katatala said the equipment will enable the Cooperative to increase its productivity in chicken rearing.
“We are grateful for this incubator. We will now be able to rear more chickens for sale hence uplift ourselves from poverty,” he said.