A six-member delegation from the Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), led by Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Lakshma Naik and comprising five โchampion farmersโ has embarked on a 10-day visit to Zambia.
The delegation was invited by NOW Partners, an international philanthropic organisation, as well as two local Zambian community organisations โ Salesian Sisters: Valponasca Learning Farm from Luwingu district and Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre from Lusaka district.
The team has been called in to launch a pilot project on natural farming in Zambia, along the lines of the Andhra Pradesh Community-Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme.
According to an official release, the APCNF programme has been recognised as the worldโs largest Agroecology project, which has engaged over 10 lakh farmers, practicing natural farming on about 500,000 hectares. Farmers from 45 countries have visited the State to take inspiration from the APCNF model and have sought technical support from RySS.
APCNF won the โGulbenkian Prize for Humanity 2024โ in July, and the State government has pledged the โฌ330,000 prize money to scaling natural farming globally. The Zambia visit marks the first international initiative by the government to roll out the pre-monsoon dry sowing technology.
