Lobbying and Advocacy
KATC, through its lobbying and advocacy wing, has over the years acted as a mouth piece for small-scale farmers who are in most cases left out of debates on issues that affect them. Among some of KATC’s achievements in this respect are:
Rejection of GMO Food Aid
KATC played an active role in the 2001-2 debate in Zambia which resulted in the rejection of GMO food aid by the late President Levy Mwanawasa. KATC also played an active role together with eminent Zambian scientists like the late Dr. Mwananyanda Lewanika in developing the Zambian Biosafety Act of 2007 which has a strict Liability and Redress clause on the entry of GMOs in Zambia.
The safeguarding of Zambian seed and food sovereignty
Since 2010 KATC has joined with other like-minded NGOs and individuals to form the Alliance for Agro-ecology and Biodiversity Conservation (ZAABC). ZAABC advocates for Zambia to maintain its seed and food sovereignty against the renewed push for entry of GMOs into Zambia as well as against Zambia’s signing of regional seed harmonisation and plant variety protection protocols which legislate against smallholder seed saving traditions that are key for small scale farmers’ agricultural production systems.
The smallholder tradition of selecting, saving, sharing and trading their own seed develops a vibrant agro-biodiverse germplasm that is important to future crop breeding research and also resilient and adaptive to increasing climate extremes
To create awareness on Sustainable Organic Agriculture (SOA) as an alternative farming system that is well suited for the majority of Zambian farmers, KATC’s Lobbying and Advocacy section has made a number of efforts which include:
In 2013 KATC facilitated an Organic Agriculture Strategy Workshop and the resulting report “Developing an Organic Agriculture Strategy for Zambia: Proposals for Action” was presented to the Ministry of Agriculture And Livestock.
In collaboration with the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), KATC has invited and hosted the House of Chiefs and Parliamentarians at KATC. KATC has also made presentations on SOA, to both the House of Chiefs and the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Environment.
In June 2013, KATC participated in the revision of the National Agricultural Policy in an effort to have SOA acknowledged in national documents.
In partnership with the Crop Science Department at the University of Zambia, KATC’s Lobbying and Advocacy section played a key in the introduction of SOA crop science curriculum at UNZA.