Government has observed that the inability to connect critical skills required to produce output has made the country’s results from mechanization and value addition to be slow and not impressive.
And Government has said Zambia’s addition of skills to the labour market currently stands at a meagre 6 percent.
Technology and Science Minister Hon Felix Mutati said the country has invested massively in mechanization and value addition in the agriculture sector and industries yet output has not been adequate.
Mr Mutati said on average, output in the agriculture sector has been around 2.5 tons per hectare instead of around 8 tons per hectare expected owing to the massive investment in mechanization and value addition.
He said this therefore goes to show that something was not being done correctly and among others has been the missing links connecting critical skills to required to make mechanization produce the desired output.
The Minister was speaking in today at the CAMCO College inaugural training program for tractors and associated implements in Lusaka.
Mr Mutati said his ministry’s skills development fund would therefore consider channeling its skills development fund towards equipping youths with skills that produce technicians in various aspects in order to begin improving the quality of life in the country.
Mr Mutati observed that another challenge which the country has faced over the years has been the inability to have an integrated approach between government, the academia and the industry in order to aggregate solutions for mechanization using technology and science.
And Mr Mutati said Zambia’s addition of skills to the market stands at 6 percent, according to the last survey conducted.
He bemoaned that this means the rest of the population lack skills hence the need to develop the critical skills required in order to make mechanization produce outputs.
He said by so doing, addition of skills to the labour market can be increased from 6 to around 25 percent.
And CAMCO Managing Director and Group Chairman Mr Li Tie said the company remains committed to developing a strong learning culture in which all its employees are able to achieve full potential and increasing job satisfaction and supporting career development.
Mr Tie also said the company registered in Zambia in 1998 has taken interest in the acquisition and enhancement of skills and knowledge that leads to increased productivity.