Under the Sentinel project the Copperbelt University hosted a three-day workshop –  Participatory Scenario Development – in central Zambia.

The scenario planning workshop focused on analysing and understanding current practices and policies and the possibilities for shaping these in the future. 

To achieve the workshop objectives, Professor Jacob Mwitwa, co-investigator for Sentinel Zambia, presented a contextual analysis of Zambia’s agricultural sector. The presentation highlighted that the analysis had been done using secondary data and included aspects of agricultural production in relation to projected food demand, findings on environmental aspects of agricultural development, and the impact on the environment and poor households in Zambia. 

Mr. Morton Mwanza from Ministry of Agriculture followed with a presentation highlighting a number of issues in Zambia’s National Agricultural Policy (NAP), including crop production, improved food security, nutrition, promotion of crop diversification and reduced land degradation. The presentation also outlined how the NAP is contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The workshop strongly emphasised the importance of the scenario development for policy makers. Stakeholders agree that if these implications and trade-offs are not addressed, climate change may lead to adverse, far-reaching effects.