Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
William Chilufya – Hivos Southern Africa Advocacy Officer for Sustainable Diets
Hivos Southern Region Manager for sustainable foods William Chilufya has called on government to sensitize farmers on the nutritive and economic benefits of growing sorghum.
Mr. Chilufya says this is a good time to encourage farmers to grow sorghum as a commercial venture in a spirit of agriculture diversification.
He says sorghum has a nutritive value which is as good as other cereals while its commercial value is higher than many crops since it grows in drought prone areas and hardly requires massive input to grow.
Mr. Chilufya says since the crop is an industrial raw material the government must push for its massive adoption.
Speaking in an interview with qfm, Mr. Chilufya says there is need to see some affirmative action that will see its propagation in all areas and farmers should be facilitated to venture into sorghum production.
Mr. Chilufya has emphasized that Sorghum does well in drought-prone areas and requires less costly inputs making it fit the description of the most effective hunger-destroyer.
And Mr. Chilufya adds that commercialization of sorghum farming has also been seen as an important source of cash for the poverty stricken families whose climate does not support cash and food crop farming thereby denying residents the much needed income.