I produce programmess on Agriculture and this is one of the feedbacks I have received from my listeners.

"Where does Dunavant Cotton Ltd put us, the farmers? The cotton price was greatly reduced because of the appreciation of the Kwacha (Zambian Currency). Shouldn't we carry the burden together since we are partners in agriculture? Should we lose out because of the appreciation of the kwacha?

Don't they know that we have families to look after? We have Orphans to take care of. Don't they know we have problems in our familes and this is why we are in the cotton business?

Even when you genuinely don't enough money to pay back the loans, they are not considerate. All they are interested in is their money. Are they just interested in the money?

Someone should help us get a better price for our hard-grown cotton. There is a lot involved in cotton production."

From A Cotton Farmer in Mazabuka.

Question: "What would you like to have...Fruit juice, Soda, Tea,Chocolate, Milo, or Coffee?"
Answer: "tea please"

Question : " Ceylon tea, Herbal tea, Bush tea, Honey bush tea, Ice tea
or green tea ?"
Answer : "Ceylon tea "

Question : "How would you like it ? black or white ?"
Answer: "white"

Question: "Milk, Whitener, or Condensed milk ?"
Answer: "With milk "

Question: "Goat milk, Camel milk or cow milk"
Answer: "With cow milk please.

Question: " Milk from Freeze land cow or Afrikaner cow?"
Answer: " Um, I'll take it black. "

Question: " Would you like it with sweetener, sugar or honey?"
Answer: "With sugar"

Question: " Beet sugar or cane sugar ?"
Answer: "Cane sugar "

Question:" White , brown or yellow sugar ?"
Answer: "Forget about tea just give me a glass of water instead."

Question: "Mineral water or still water ? "
Answer: "Mineral water"

Question: "Flavored or non-flavored ?"
Answer: "I'll rather die of thirst

This information I got through a fellowship I got from PANOS Southern Africa. This is part of the information I gathered through the Oral Testimony Programme facilitated by Siobhan Warrington from PANOS London.
We shall begin with farming:

Matongo: How did you manage your farming?
Edward: My farming was very good in the beginning because I could have enough food for the children and enough for sale in Choma. After selling I could be paid very well. I was able to buying something I wanted after being paid.

Matongo: How was your crop diversity in planting?
Edward: I used to diversify in crop plantation. The field I have planted maize in, the following year I would plant sunflower. This is in a bid to fertilize the soil. The field that had groundnuts, the following year I would maize in it. We used to apply manure also to make the land good for the crops. This is how I practiced crop rotation.

Where did you get this knowledge?
I got this knowledge from an agriculture extension officer, Bokelo. He is the one that was helping us the time we started having problems of cattle deaths. This field you are seeing here saved me for three years. Poor rain has made it look that barren. I was able to feed my children from that field. We would clear the field before the onset of the rain. After this we got some stick and made holes at a particular spacing. All of this, the officer was teaching us. The men would be making the holes and the women would be dropping the seed in the holes and putting back the soil. When the maize germinated, we applied the medicine that we were given in the middle of the crops. This is how Bokelo taught us. That time, with his good instructions, we worked very well.

Considering the change in time, how has your farming changed from that time?
I am not progressing with my farming because we no longer have cattle, I am no longer that strong. In the past I was able to go to the field with all my children and then someone would see that yes there were people working in that field. But when my children left me, some for marriage, the labour force was reduced also. This time around I only manage a small portion to feed myself. I do this with my hands. This is the greatest problem I have nowadays.

Looking at he type of farming you practiced in those years of using manure and the farming of today where you apply fertiliser, which would you prefer?
I prefer the time when we were using cow manure and composite manure. There is something I had left out; when the land was becoming infertile, we used to put the sunflower stalks and just when the rain was going we cut them down so that there is manure added to the soil. Today this practice is no longer there. There are very few people that are still doing it, you can easily count them. This is what has killed many of us. The days of today are not similar to the old times.

What has really gone wrong?
The major problem like on me is one; the fertiliser we are given has destroyed the land. The fertiliser is now very expensive. You would cultivate a small piece of land but without fertiliser you cannot have a good yield. Our land is gone because of the fertiliser. The fertiliser has gone up but the yield has gone down.

Was drought there in the old times?
Yes we had droughts but they were periodical. It wasn’t the way it is now. These it’s more like relief maize that people get. Sometimes it would just across the road and where you are there is nothing. This was not there in those times. We had floods. Some maize was really likely to be flooded. We had very good rain in those days. This is no longer the case. Even where you thought you could make a garden, the land is now very dry, and the water no longer springs. The land is now very dry.

How did you survive with the drought?
In the past the old men taught us a lot of things. We stored our maize in the grain banks. We also ate Nchenje (a wild fruit), Lulezya (wild roots), Manshyaabe (a wild root that’s used for making Chibwantu). We also dug Lusala (wild roots) for eating before we even came to know that it can also be used for business. Business brought a problem because we dug at the same place until there was nothing. These are some of the things that protect us during droughts. It can gave us a chance to spare the maize in the banks for some days. Where the water collects after springing, we called it Muzyilili. This is where we could dig up a bit and sow the maize seeds, and the pumpkinseeds. When them time comes, the maize would have grown and you would be irrigating them. When the maize is ready you get one for yourself and your children. Where you got a cob of maize you would sow another so that there is continuity in maize production though very little.

Did you sustain your whole livelihood from farming?
It’s not that we sustained ourselves on farming only, we also rare chickens. There were not so many diseases as they are now. We used to rare chicken and though they were not that expensive, you could earn something after selling one. We were not selfish when we had money that you would make spontaneous programmes. We really kept the money for an intended purpose. Sometimes the money could be in the house for more than a month. We kept this money to be ready for emergencies or indeed any eventualities.

You said you got some knowledge from the agriculture extension workers. Do these people still have the zeal to teach farmers?
From my own observation as Haampande, I have seen that they no longer have that zeal or power to carry out their job. I have said this because in the past the extension workers were the ones identifying the farmers in need of implements. They gave us papers to sign. Extension workers like Mr. Mweemba knew all the people that needed help. They really were close to the people. These days it’s difficulty because people are interest about themselves. The moment one hears there’s fertilizer, he would register with the one in charge. By the time the other people come to know about the fertilizer, it would already have been distributed. How will you follow up such a person.

Are you saying that the extension workers are no longer given the powers to distribute the fertilizer?
In this area, we can say that this is true, because an extension worker is the one who is supposed to lead people. But it seems people are downplaying the role of the extension workers. They would rather be in the forefront than the extension workers. This was never the case in the old times. We really respected the extension workers. We called the Basibulimi (extension workers) to show them the respect they deserved. When they came to bring whatever to us, we would settle down and recognize his presence. He has come with some good news. These are the people that taught conservation farming to protect our lives. We try the means they are teaching us but we do not all the inputs. You would sow and the seed would germinate. The rain can be good, but where shall you find the fertilizer to apply to your maize? You would just sit back and the maize dies. I think the extension workers in those times really had the powers to help the people as compared to these modern times.

Where did you get the farming implements in those days?
We got the farming implements from the agricultural officers. Even when we were just starting our families, we were able to apply to an extension officer requesting for a plough, a harrow or a planter. You would apply to the officer, with fertiliser inclusive, in no time he would respond to your request. The moment you go to his office he would give you the things you had requested for and this brought great happiness to us. You would the fertilizer way in advance before the onset of the rain. You would be encouraged and motivated to go to the field to clear it in readiness for cultivating because you had the right motivation with the implements that the officer gave you.

What difference is there, now?
The story nowadays in very weird. The extension officers were given some tools. These tools are accessible from them, but what shall you use them with? Even when you are to get someone to do it for you with his or her oxen, it would be very expensive. When the rain comes, those with oxen would want to work on their field. You would offer someone money to assist you with the cultivation, but he would ask you to wait for him to finish in his field before he can think of going to other people’s fields. By the time he comes to your field, there would be plenty of tall grass. You would do the cultivation but to do the weeding is another problem now. Where shall you find the tool to do that? The tools are available from the extension workers. You can even go and use them at this very moment we are chatting. There is nothing bad I can say about the extension workers.

Looking at your farming from the 1950s to now, where would gauge yourself in farming matters?
The farming I practiced from 1959 - to 1992 when I lost most of my property – to now is different from that of 1959. There is a great difference because I no longer have the farming implements despite having a great desire to do farming. I don’t have tools my boy.

Do you think farming can be a solution to fighting poverty?
If you don’t the tools, I can assure that poverty can be strife. If tools are available, poverty can be brought to an end, even other problems can be no more, and diseases can be no more. Although we are sick and there is this AIDS. How can AIDS not come in when the only thing you can is bite your lips trying to think about where you shall get your food. The food can be there, then there comes a question of what shall I buy it with? There is nothing. This is where the greatest diseases are.

For a complete story get in touch with me.

You must understand that you are not on this planet earth by accident or by mistake - NO!You are God's finished product! and the fact that you were born,is a clear indication that there is something that God finished and He wants you to begin.Discover who you are and be original.Each and everyone has his/her own discoveries and living in others people dreams will always bring problems,we have many problems than we have solutions on this planet earth because many people run away from the truth of discovering who they are and what they were meant to do in life.Be yourself and once you do,you will cause seeds of greatness to germinate in your life and you will never be the same again!!
GOD BLESS YOU AND REMEMBER THAT GOD IS ABLE!!!

You must understand that you are not on this planet earth by accident or by mistake - NO!You are God's finished product! and the fact that you were born,is a clear indication that there is something that God finished and He wants you to begin.Discover who you are and be original.Each and everyone has his/her own discoveries and living in others people dreams will always bring problems,we have many problems than we have solutions on this planet earth because many people run away from the truth of discovering who they are and what they were meant to do in life.Be yourself and once you do,you will cause seeds of greatness to germinate in your life and you will never be the same again!!
GOD BLESS YOU AND REMEMBER THAT GOD IS ABLE!!!

I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE BOX
Bothers and sisters, I greet you all in wonderful name of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ .I want to assure you that God is good all the time and that this is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it .GOD IS ABLE!!
No matter what ever you are going through and no matter who you are and no matter who people say you are want to tell you this day that God has a plan for you! All you need to know is that; in the fullness of time, things come to pass and God will make a way out of no way.
I want to share with a wonderful story which am sure will make you make understand what I have talked about and know that our God is a good God! Amen!.

There was a farmer who had a very big farm, a beautiful wife and only one child who was born paralysed, he couldn’t move or do anything. Whatever he wanted to do, he could always call on his father or his mother. One sad thing about this boy was that, he was always put in the box and everytime he grew, his father could make him a new box to fit him well .His father and his mother were both Christians and every Sunday they were going with the boy in the box. The boy always wanted to be put in front so that he could hear whatever was being preached because he loved the word of God, his father always read the Bible with him at home and he loved what the Bible had to say about the promises of God.This boy stayed in the box for many years but things began to change when he was 22 years old.it was a Sunday morning, at church the preacher was preaching about the healing power of God and the boy was listening carefully. The preacher man called for an outer call and everyone one in front, the man of God prayed for the young man as well and assured the boy that God has healed him but the boy was still in the box, when they went home, the boy cried uncontrollably but he was comforted by his father and especially his mother. Onething that the boy started thinking about always was the fact that God healed him and this was so deep in his heart. One day, he told his father that he wanted to be put next to the dressing mirror so that he could see himself, this practice was continued and one in the morning, he saw himself in the mirror standing and smiling, he called loudly for his father and his father came in running as fast as he could, when he reached where the boy was asked what was the matter. The boy told him that he wanted him to remove him from the box and make him stand infront of the mirror, his father was very surprised because his son had never done such a thing before, so he removed from the box and when he tried to make him stand, he (the boy) fell to the ground and started crying, his father put him back into the box and left him there. The boy still believed that one day he would walk. Despite his father refusing to answer him whenever he called, the boy continued to see him self-standing in the mirror and this made him believe more. After 3 years, the boy called on his father and he refused to go there instead he told his wife to go there but the wife encouraged him to go and do it for the last time. When he went there inside the house, he found the boy and asked him why he was calling him, the boy told him the usual thing, the boy’s father sat next to him and started encouraging him with the word of God and told him that he shouldn’t worry at all because he was very handsome and everyone loves him the way he was, but he told his father that he wanted to be out of the box and that he believed it. His father did exactly according to the request from the boy and surprisingly enough, the boy stood still as strong as he could be and when his father saw what happened ,he fainted . The boy spoke to the box that “listen box,today is my day and iam telling you that I will never get back to you no matter what! and iam going to make sure that you are destroyed and I don’t want to see you again!!!!!!!!

From that moment everything changed in the life of the boy and his parents .He went outside of the house to where the mother was and when he greeted her, she look back in order to see who was greeting her, suprisingly enough she saw her son and immediately she as well fainted and the son started pouring water on her. The boy became a testimony to all the people and he preached all over the world that God is Able!!!.When God heals performs a miracle in your life,you must make sure you destroy the box of bondage.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
For more information please contact:achipasha@kcm.co.zm or achipasha@yahoo.com.

I wonder whether the American attacks were actually by Al Qaeda as one year later there is no hard evidence. Seems like the tape revealed today is not by Bin Ladin but they want to pin it on him. Isn't there technology to prove whose voice it is?

From the comfort of my house I seem to be missing out of the work going on at WSSD and all the media seems to be concentrating on is controversy and failures only.

Hope all you TIGers there are doing great and having fun. Represent us. Many are amazed I am not attending but I have a plate-ful of activities.