Report of the Policy Harmonization Dialogue, Zambia. Final report

Abstract

The Government of the Republic of Zambia is developing a National Policy on Climate Change whose main aim is to mainstream Climate Change in the country’s development goals and programs. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is reviewing the National Agriculture Policy of 2004-2015 to capture changed political and the changing socio- economic and environmental conditions with special consideration of the climate change impacts on the Agricultural sector. The Government of Z ambia through the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) and the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection (MLNREP), requested the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to facilitate a harmonization process between the two draft policies within the framework of the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) project being implemented by the MAL with technical support from FAO with financial support of the European Union. A policy dialogue aimed at harmonizing the two polic ies was therefore convened with participants (see participants list in Annex 1) consisting of the key policy, planning and legal specialists from the two Ministries and Cabinet Office with technical support from the CSA Technical team and an independent facilitator agreed on by both Ministries at Chaminuka Lodge in Chongwe District of Lusaka from 12th-14th August 2013.