ZAMBIA: Kamala Harris pledges U.S. support for African agriculture

US Vice President, Kamala Harris, has pledged America’s support for African agriculture, after she toured the Panuka farm in Chibombo district, Zambia on Mar. 31, 2023.
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The farm outside the capital uses new techniques and technology to boost its vegetable crop.

According to a White House communiqué, US private sector made over $7 billion in new commitments after the VP’s call for the sector to promote and enhance climate resilience, mitigation and adaptation across Africa.

“The United States will continue to support and expand this work. Some examples of the work that we are doing to that end here on the continent includes helping to improve climate modelling, weather forecast and to build new weather stations,” She said.

“We, through that work, know that we can then help farmers decide where to plant their crops, when to plant their crops, how to predict the upcoming growing season in a way they plant crops that are resilient to, or can adapt, to whatever that climate might be predicted to be.”

If Africa has contributed far less to overall greenhouse gas emissions than economically richer corners of the world, it bears the brunt of the climate crisis.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Harris will return to Washington Sunday after a weeklong trip to 3 African countries.

In the geopolitical battle for influence, the Biden administration seeks to narrow a trust gap with Africa.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the US Vice President is the 49th  vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president.

A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017 and as a United States senator representing California from 2017 to 2021.

Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco’s office. In 2003, she was elected district attorney of San Francisco.

Harris was elected Attorney General of California in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Harris served as the junior United States senator from California from 2017 to 2021; she defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second African-American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the United States Senate.

As a senator, she advocated for healthcare reform, federal de-scheduling of cannabis, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the DREAM Act, a ban on assault weapons, and progressive tax reform.

She gained a national profile for her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault.

Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, but withdrew from the race prior to the primaries.

Joe Biden selected her as his running mate, and their ticket went on to defeat the incumbent president, Donald Trump, and vice president, Mike Pence, in the 2020 election.

Harris became vice president upon being inaugurated on January 20, 2021, alongside President Joe Biden.