By MILLENNIUM REPORTER
THE Small-Scale Farmers Development Agency (SAFADA) has called for concerted effort to eliminate the outbreak of cassava brown streak disease.
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The cassava brown streak is a disease affecting cassava fields with potential to destroy yields up to 100 percent, and currently affecting North-Western, Northern and Luapula provinces.
SAFADA Executive Director, Boyd Moobwe, said the outbreak has continued to affect cassava yields, with the potential of discouraging farmers from growing it.
Mr Moobwe said any matter within the agriculture sector which threatens the survival of a particular crop should worry stakeholders especially with the diversification agenda in place.
Mr Moobwe has called for increased funding towards research aimed at eliminating the cassava brown streak disease before the rest of the country is affected.
Mr Moobwe said the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) needs to do more to ensure the disease is tackled because cassava cultivation is a source of livelihoods for most small-scale farmers in the northern circuit of the country.
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