2014 OMS Semi Annual Performance: Strengthened Union

with strong Leadership & structures, while fully exploiting

its income generating capacity
The Outreach, membership and Gender Unit is a restructured Unit of what used to be
Outreach and membership before the split in January, 2015. The split is meant to
improve delivery of services to the ever increasing demands from the members. The
Units 2015 focus include;

Strengthen and continue consolidating ZNFU organizational Structures;

Strengthen the Unions leadership and core values;
Sharpen the outreach function of the Union by upgrading modes of
communications;
Foster and nurture membership recruitments and retention by stepping up the
Unions responsiveness, skills trainings and extension support, monitoring and
backstopping systems.

Given the ever changing working environment, the Union has continued to improve its
outreach function and results during the 2015 implementation period. Below are some of
the activities and achievements attained thus far.
1. Strengthening and consolidating ZNFU organizational structures

i.

Enhanced Image and visibility

The Image building/enhancement involved creating and sustaining a positive ZNFU

reputation and respect from members and stakeholders at all organizational and
operational levels. This was achieved by implementing the following activities;

Continued refurbishing and distribution of office furniture to ZNFU Regional and

District offices.
The maintenance of the 51 DFA roadside and office billboards so that they remain
visible in the DFAs where the Union has offices.
The continued to display of ZNFU branded pop ups for the member services and
the ZFM in field days and agricultural shows to enhance the Unions visibility
especially at district level, and during the 2nd Agritech Expo.
The Union has also continued to participate in roadside shows where more than
39,700 farmers have attended.
The Union also successfully conducted the 2nd Agritech Expo which attracted more
than 53 both local and international companies to exhibit their latest technologies
with more than 10,000 both small and large scale farmers attending the event
which was held GART in Chisamba.
The Union further sponsored five (5) agro-related traditional ceremony where
ZNFU promotional materials were distributed. All these activities are aimed at
strengthening ZNFU structures by making the Union visible and preferred by all
categories of farmers.
Continued sponsorship of academic awards to agricultural training institutes and
for the period under review, the Union sponsored an award at NRDC for the best
performing student.

ii.
Field days and Agric shows
Continued participation and organizing of agricultural shows, field days and Agritech
Expo, where the ZNFU was highly visible and in the period under review, the Union
participated in at least 244 block and district agricultural shows and will be participating
at the national show. It is worth noting that the DFAs continued to scoop either first or

second positions in the The best performing farmer organisation category during the
agricultural shows.
Mr. Mumba, Kindly Insert a table showing field days, agric shows and road
side shows and attendance to the field days.
Lessons learnt
1. Bill boards have enhanced visibility and presence of the ZNFU. Maintenance of bill
boards remains a continuous activity especially with the political scenario where
bill boards are using for pitching up posters during by elections.
2. Support to agro related traditional ceremony through promotional materials such
as the ZNFU branded chitenge and branded T. shirts is a good tool for enhancing
presence and visibility in the communities.
3. Need to reschedule the Agritech Expo from the first week to the third week to
avoid rainy days with the current weather challenges.
iii.
Membership Recruitment and Retention
A minimum of 90,000 paid up small scale membership has been set as the 2015 target.
The table below show the membership attained thus far;
#

REGION

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13

CENTRAL
COPPERBELT
EASTERN A
EASTERN B
LUAPULA
LUSAKA
MUCHINGA
NORTHERN
N/ WESTERN A
N/ WESTERN B
SOUTHERN A
SOUTHERN B
WESTERN
TOTALS

M/SHIP as
July 2014
5,431
4,130
8,097
7,945
2,974
1,550
2,386
3,680
1,561
412
4,413
4,003
2,763
49,345

2015 MEMBERSHIP STATUS

FEMALE
MALE
TOTAL
641
2,865
3,506
893
1857
2,750
803
2,245
3,048
1,557
2,365
3,922
845
1,565
2,410
750
437
1.187
474
840
1,314
919
1,777
2,696
1,065
1,514
2,579
253
683
936
1,122
1,650
2,772
1,115
2,212
3,327
784
730
1,514
11,221
20,740
31,961

The period under review recorded a slow pace in the renewal and paying in the DFA small
scale membership as compared to last year during the same period. A total of 31,961
(11,221 F, 20,740 M) as compared to 49, 345 (F=18, 751, M=30, 594) small scale
members out of the targeted 90,000 (31,500 F, 58,500 M) members had paid up
membership by July 2015 representing 35.5% achievement.
Although the membership subscriptions have been slow, the union is optimistic that the
target will still be achieved by end of 2015. The Union has planned to upscale the
membership mobilisation and awareness campaigns and enhance market linkages to
private buyers.
Two new DFAs, thus Chipili in Luapula and Shibuyunji DFAs in Lusaka West joined the
Union bringing the number of DFAs to 75.
Out of the total eighteen (18) Commodity Associations (CAs) eight have already
subscribed to the Union. The actual individual members from the CAs will be provided
during the 2015 Annual report.

iv.
ICs Establishment
A total of 84 new ICs were created during the period, however more effort was dedicated
towards strengthening existing ones to ensure that all ICs have a minimum of 50
members per IC; and below is a Table showing IC establishments during the period.
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

REGION
CENTRAL
COPPERBELT
EASTERN A
EASTERN B
LUAPULA
LUSAKA
MUCHINGA
NORTHERN
N/ WESTERN A
N/ WESTERN B
SOUTHERN A
SOUTHERN B
WESTERN
TOTALS

# OF DFAs
6
9
4
4
11
6
4
7
4
3
4
5
7
74

OLD ICs
184
203
199
270
134
74
187
205
90
59
161
201
150
2,117

NEW ICs
8
0
9
5
11
5
(52)
8
5
5
10
9
9
84

TOTAL ICs
192
203
286
275
145
79
135
213
95
64
171
210
159
2,227

2. Strengthen the Unions leadership and core values;

i.
Leadership trainings conducted.
The Union conducted 10 leadership and governance skills training for all DFA
leaders at district level with a view to improving their leadership skills and
management of DFA activities. A total of about 473 DFA leaders (137 F, 336M)
participated in the leadership skills training in Muchinga, Eastern A and B Regions.
ii.
ZNFU and DFA annual general meeting
Out of the 75 DFA Annual General Meetings planned, only 16 DFAs in Copperbelt and
Eastern regions have been held as at mid-July, 201. The Annual Genera Meetings are
meant to facilitate and ensure that democratic tenets are upheld resulting in
strengthened Union structures. The AGMs will run until end of August, 2015. The DFA
AGMs have attracted about 8 agribusiness chamber members who have taken the
opportunity to market their products through this platform. The meetings have become
popular and more interactive.
iii.
Regional Planning Meetings
Regional review and planning meetings were successfully conducted in all the regions,
where a total of 690 DFA leadership (298F, 392M) and 41 Regional and District staff
reviewed their performance in 2014 and planned the activities to be undertaken during
2015. The meetings were very interactive and are meant to enhance ownership of the
program which is critical for the successful implementation of the planned activities.
iv.
DFA participation on strategic District Committees.
Promoting and facilitating members active participation and leadership on local
agricultural committees. The Union continued to lobby for the inclusion of all DFAs
representatives onto all the agricultural related district committees. This has seen the
inclusion of 71 DFAs onto the District Agricultural committees. About four (4) of the new
DFAs are yet to get seats on the District Show Society and the District Development
Coordinating Committee.

3. Sharpen the outreach function of the Union by upgrading modes of

communications
i.
Enhanced Outreach
During the period, ZNFU continued to enhance and improve its outreach function with
and among members and key industry stakeholders. The following was done;

Continued improving of in-house information dissemination by continuously

updating the staff directory for phone numbers and email addresses.

Creating a directory for the contacts of all the 2,227 and updating the DFA
chairpersons contact details as the AGM are running.

The updating of the website was done on a weekly basis as pertinent contents of
the weekly brief are uploaded on to the website.

The ZF TV program managed to air 26 programmes which attracted massive

followership. The program attracted adverts with ZSIC and African grey Insurance
sponsoring the program in full. The program has continued to be very popular
among the farmers and key stakeholders including government Ministries. The
program has also attracted other projects that are ready to pay for the filming and
airtime and appear on ZF TV program.

The Voice of the farmer was branded from March and have so far aired 16
programs with SARO taking up full sponsorship of the radio program.

The monthly ZF magazine has continued to improve in content. A total of six (6)
editions were produced as at June, 2015. One major setback has been the delay in
printing by our South African printers due to load shedding. The Union is currently
exploring new printing alternatives so as to improve in the timely distribution of
the magazine.

The local radio stations have also become a popular channel of communication to
promote DFA activities and awareness creation.

Continued improving the content and updating the emailing lists of the ZNFU
Friday Brief;
The Union has continued to make improvements to the contents of the Friday brief
and continued to group and update the emailing list to include the new members
and key partners.

4. Skills trainings and extension support, monitoring and backstopping

systems.
i.
Financial literacy training
The Union working with ZANACO has continued to provide training in financial
management to the farmers. During the period trainings were conducted in four regions
where a total of 215 farmers (91 F, 124 m) were trained. The trainings will be conducted
in the other regions during the third quarter.
ii.
Study circles
Study circle methodology has continued to be one of the popular methods of learning
among the female farmers. A total of 418 study circle groups with about 4,970
participating farmers (3,980 F, 990 M) were conducted during the period under review.
iii.
Improving performance, monitoring and backstopping.
During the period, the union achieved the following;

Monitoring of regional membership growth on a weekly basis and ranking for

performance
Tracking of the motorbikes over 265 Information Centres were submitted for
mapping with the objective of enhancing monitoring and resource utilization.

iv.
Market and trade Linkages
Three regions have managed to facilitate 30 MT of maize valued at approximately K50,
000 and 65 MT of soya beans valued at K199, 000 by end of June, 2015. More market
linkage will be facilitated during the third quarter being the peak of the crop marketing
season.
Kindly get more data from Agribusiness on market facilitation especially from Central and
Eastern Regions.
5.

Other OMS Services

In addition to the above interventions, the Union has also continued to improve and
increase member services and support by ensuring that special attention is paid to
services that will increase, retain and sustain all membership categories. Specific
strategies focused on;
1 Farm security related services:
The union has continued to host the quarterly committee meeting is providing a for a
platform where the farmer representatives and key stakeholders such as the Zambia
Police Service meet to give updates on the status of farm related crime and measures
put in place to curb thefts in these areas. This committee has since seen the need to
bring on board more SSF representatives as they are also prone to crime such as stock
and grain thefts.
2 Farm labour and related services:
The Union has continued with the process of Collective Bargaining between ZFEA and its
social partners NUPAAW and GRAMUZ; and continued lobbying for a sector based
approach to the process of collective bargaining of wages and conditions of service for
farm workers. The partners are currently negotiating for the new conditions as the old
one expired last December, 2014.
3 Land access and related services:
The Union commenced the implementation of the Group Land Survey Service during the
period. Out of 148 properties planned to be surveyed about 133 properties have so far
been surveyed. The Surveyors are currently working on the other 15 properties for
Central Region. The table below reflects the results achieved as at June 2015.
Region

Properties

Southern B

98

Southern A

35

Central

15
148 properties

Comments
A total of 77 cadastral and 21 site plans have
been done. Documents still being prepared for
approval at the SGs office.
35 Site plans have been done and awaiting
approval before the cadastral survey is done.
The properties will be surveyed in third quarter.

Demand for the service is increasing as the farmers are marketing their commodities.
The Union has received commendation for launching such a service by stakeholders
including the MLNREP.

Gender mainstreaming, environment and other crosscutting issues

The following is the 2015 focus under gender mainstreaming;

Consolidating and enhancing the women farmers forum structures;

Economic empowerment of women farmers;
Improving household food and nutrition security; and
Promotion of young farmers services and membership.

The following results were achieved during the period under review;
1. Improved female representation at all ZNFU structures
WFF Structures consolidation
A total of 298 female farmers sit on the DFA executive Committees. A total of 75 DFA
women representatives and 1,966 Information centres representatives out of 2,227 are
represented on the DFA and IC committees bringing to 100% and 88% achievement
respectively. A total of 11,221 female farmers, out of the targeted membership of 30,000
female farmers have been recruited as at July 15 th, 2015, representing 37% achievement.
This achievement is expected to improve as the farmers have just started marketing
their commodities.
The planned leadership trainings for the four regions have been scheduled to be
conducted during the third quarter.
Economic empowerment of women farmers.
A total of 48 applications under the Women innovation fund have been received and are
being reviewed. Funding will be provided for, to those that will go through during the 3 rd
quarter, 2015.
In collaboration with Profit plus, under the gender mainstreaming Unit, 520 farmers (140
M 380 F) in Lusaka Region were trained in Leadership and governance principles. This
has contributed to an increase in female membership under Lusaka region. A total of 12
groups with a total membership of 120 members (106 F, 14 M) under Western region
have embarked on Savings and Credit scheme after a training by the Cotton Association
of Zambia, the DFA Executives and the District Staff.
Lessons Learnt;

Theres urgent need to conduct training of women farmers in entrepreneurship

and enterprise development as seen from the applications. This will help
capacitate farmers to be able to identify viable enterprises by thinking outside the
box and be able to grow the identified business.

Improving household food and nutrition security;

The interventions are meant to respond to food and nutrition security as well as
mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic.
In collaboration with the Food and Nutrition section of the Ministry of Agriculture, five (5)
trainings in Soyabeans processing were conducted for 305 ( 295 F, 10M) women farmers
in Western, Northern, Eastern and Central Regions.
Twenty two (22) women farmers from Chongwe were trained in mushroom growing by a
trainer from Authentic Foods of Zambia LTD.

Promotion of young farmers services and membership.

i.

Increased participation of young farmers within ZNFU

programs
Recruitment of young farmers has slightly increased from 2, 218 in July 2014 to
2, 505 (1, 405 F, 1, 100 M) young farmers. A total of 23 DFAs have elected
young farmer representatives from 12 DFAs. Representation of Young farmers
continues to grow and validated in various DFAs through the on-going AGMs.
Elections will be done in the remaining Regions during the 3 rd quarter.
Further, a total of 115 young farmers (37 F, 78 M) participated in the April 2015 Agritech
Expo. Promotion of services among the young and the female farmers will continue
during the 3rd and the 4th quarter.
Further, the Union has continued to create strategic working relationship with the Child
Fund Youth movement and the Young Women in Action. Further, a ZNFU Face book
interactive network has continued to be active with Youth Alive Zambia.
Farm Forestry Commercialization: Conservation farming, agro forestry & other
climate
The period under recorded some positive achievements. Some of the achievements
include;
i.

The national farm forestry commodity committee has continued to track the
emerging forestry policy issues at national and local levels through a growing
network of local farm forest representatives now standing at 32 from 25 last
year.

ii.

Farmers that have shown interest and are adopting the farm forestry practices
have increased from 496 in 19 DFAs to 610 in 25 DFAs. 320 farmers were
trained in community based forestry enterprises in chongwe, Mwinilunga and
Choma.

iii.

The Union created two strategic partnership with the MTK (Finnish Forestry
owners) for support to a phase two of the ZNFU/MTK project, and another
partnership with the Food and Farm Forestry facility project supported by the
FAO after a successful application for the support.

Farm Forestry Promotion

The Farm Forest commodity committee is in place and fully functional. Over five
Thousands of Pine, Eucalyptus, Cacia and citrus seedlings are under propagation with a
total of 2, 500 citrus and Cacia seedlings already potted at the GART Chisamba Nursery.
Eucalyptus and Pine seeds have been distributed to Luwingu, Lusaka West and Kafue
DFAs to promote farm level nurseries at DFA level. ZNFU have engaged the Department
of Forestry for collaboration in tree seedling propagation and distribution. During the
period, an MOU was signed between ZNFU and Forestry Department for collaboration.
The MOU clearly spells out roles and responsibilities in the collaboration.
The Union has continued to create strategic partnerships with, Zambia Green Jobs to
train over 350 Contact farmers in selected Districts
Conservation and other climate smart agricultural practices
The Union believes that adoption of environmentally sustainable practices by its
members will lead to increased agricultural productivity and environmental conservation.
Mr. Malumani, kindly provide data on CA from CAO II project