Zambia has been awarded a 10 million U.S. dollars loan by the International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD) towards small-scale livestock investment, local media reported Wednesday.

The loan agreement is expected to benefit 210,000 rural households and would specifically assist in replacing livestock lost through cattle diseases widely seen in Zambia's rural areas, reported the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) Wednesday.

IFAD President Lennart Bage and Zambia's Ambassador to Italy Lucy Mungoma signed the agreement at IFAD headquarters in Rome, Italy on Tuesday, the ZANIS said.

"Poor farming families that have lost cattle to disease will receive local livestock together with training and the government's capacity to control cattle diseases will be strengthened," read part of the statement cited by ZANIS.

The project would also place emphasis on livestock disease control through vaccination in efforts of promoting the development of a healthier livestock industry in Zambia, the statement said.

"Most of Zambia's small-holders depend on animal power for plowing their land. Repeated outbreaks of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia and East Coast Fever have killed a large proportion of small-holders' cattle and forced many people to resort to the hand hoe," IFAD Eastern and Southern African regional director Ides de Willebois was quoted as saying in the statement.

Source: Xinhua