PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said Government has spent K380 million on developing irrigation activities in Lumbi and Kapako areas of Milenge and Mansa districts in Luapula Province.

President Banda said the Government paid great attention to promoting irrigation agriculture in rural areas so that small-scale farmers could grow food throughout the year.

He said this was why Government had spent K380 million in Lumbi and Kapako to construct canals for irrigation, a scheme that will benefit small-scale farmers.

He said Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, was concluding an agreement with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to develop more irrigation canals in Kawambwa and Nchelenge districts.

President Banda said this in a speech read for him by Presidential Affairs Minister Ronald Mukuma during the celebration of Chabuka Ba Bushi ceremony in Mansa yesterday.

He said Government had provided tractors to Luapula Province so that farmers could use the machinery for ploughing.

He noted that it was through mechanising farming activities that farmers could produce more food and promote food security in Zambia.

The president said Government had spent several millions of Kwacha to procure vaccines to control livestock and poultry rearing in Luapula Province.

He said 720,000 chickens would be vaccinated against livestock diseases in selected areas of Luapula Province.

And President Banda has said Government will continue to promote traditional ceremonies in Zambia because they help popularise the cultural heritage of the country to visitors and the young generation.

"Traditional ceremonies are for the benefit of young people and visitors to assimilate the cultural values of our communities. This is why Government will continue to encourage the holding of traditional events like Chabuka Ba Bushi," he said.

Government would continue to attend traditional ceremonies because they offer an opportunity for an exchange of development notes with the traditional leaders.

Meanwhile, Mr Banda has advised chiefs in Luapula Province to heed calls by Government to discard traditional practices that are contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

He said HIV/AIDS was a serious disease that was killing a lot of productive people in the country.

Chiefs should discard practices such as sexual cleansing and widow inheritance, which he said were contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Among those who attended the ceremony were Copperbelt Minister Mwansa Mbulakulima, Luapula Province Minister Boniface Kawimbe, Community Development Deputy Minister Moses Muteteka and Local Government Deputy Minister Crispin Musosha.