ITC, ICAC Are Lending a Hand in Zambia
The Cotton Board of Zambia has been working with ICAC Executive Director Kai Hughes, Chief Scientist Dr Keshav Kranthi and Project Coordinator Dr Sandhya Kranthi to implement the ICAC’s ‘Four Simple Steps to Sustainable High Yields’ programme. The Secretariat members were on the ground in CITY to ‘train the trainers’ on integrated pest management (IPM) and global best practices for cotton cultivation. The country’s production has plummeted in recent years, so Zambian officials seek to leverage the ICAC’s experience and technologies — including the Virtual Reality Cotton Training Programme — to enable cotton farmers to double their yields in as little as two to three years, if they follow the steps. There are 356 growers in the ICAC project; when their training is complete, they will help to spread their new knowledge to Zambia’s other 300,000+ cotton growers. The initiative was featured on a Zambian news programme (the segment begins at 5:40): facebook.com
