By Francis Chipalo
State House Chief Communications Strategist Whitney Mulobela says President Hakainde Hichilema’s Grow Zambia agenda is not just an agricultural programme — it is a full economic transformation plan designed to turn Zambia from a consumer of goods into a producer of value.
Mulobela said the agenda is a comprehensive economic strategy that connects agricultural output directly to manufacturing, regional trade and rural development.
He said at its core, Grow Zambia seeks to unlock the productive potential that already exists in every province.
“From empowering 1.2 million smallholders with irrigation and mechanisation to building regional agro-industrial hubs across our provinces, this is how we transition from a consumer of goods to a producer of value,” Mulobela said, in a Facebook post monitored by Zed Gossip news.
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Mulobela explained that the strategy moves beyond rain-fed subsistence farming. By equipping smallholders with irrigation, mechanisation, extension services and access to markets, government wants to guarantee year-round production, food security and surplus for processing.
The second pillar, he said, is value addition. Instead of exporting raw maize, soya beans and timber, Zambia will process them locally into mealie meal, cooking oil, stock feed and furniture — creating jobs and keeping value within the economy.
Mulobela cited Mandevu as a practical example of how the agenda will work on the ground. The constituency’s carpenters, welders and traders, if linked to better infrastructure, financing and markets, can anchor a thriving furniture industry that employs thousands.
“There is good reason to be optimistic about what Zambia can achieve. Each province has skills, resources and enterprises that can contribute to national growth,” he said.
He added that regional agro-industrial hubs will ensure that development is not concentrated in Lusaka alone but spreads to all provinces, bringing opportunities closer to where people live.
He noted that Grow Zambia begins with what Zambians are already doing — farming, trading, building — and measures success not just in GDP figures, but in what changes on the ground: water in homes, better roads, children in school and money in people’s pockets.
“This is how we build strong provincial economies on the resources each province already has,” he added.
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