ZAMBIA n = 20 5. Did the institution provide all of the information requested? Yes No Additional Information • • 6. Does the institution provide written reasons for the refusal of information? Did the institution disclose information about its operations, budgets, structure etc? • 8. Did the authority provide information without questioning the aims and motivations of the applicant? • 9. Did the institution acknowledge your request for information within 7 days? • 10. Was the information received clear and understandable? • 7. Partial Total Score: 14/20 2. Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) CATEGORY 1: WEBSITE www.agriculture.gov.zm The MAL’s website is up to date with its most recent update made in July 2018. It has Facebook and Twitter pages with 6,378 followers on Facebook and 162 followers on Twitter. Both the Facebook and Twitter pages are up to date but have little interaction with their audience. n = 20 1. Does this website contain up-to-date information? Yes No Partial Additional Information • 2. Does the website contain the following: a) A description of its powers, as well as data on the organisational structure, the functions and the responsibilities of the administration? • • b) A list of laws, Acts etc issued within the scope of its powers? c) Reports, policies, programmes? • d) Budget and expenditure? • e) Information about procurement procedures and/or signed contracts? • f) Vacancy and employment procedures? • • g) The address, telephone numbers and working hours of the institution? h) The contact details of specific public officials? • i) A mechanism to request and receive a response to electronic messages and requests for information? • Total Score: 7/20 The website only contains the address but does not provide telephone numbers or working hours. CATEGORY 2: REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION The following questions were sent to the MAL: 1. How widespread are your offices countrywide? 2. Following the recent pronouncements by the Head of State to diversify Zambia’s economy by moving from a copper-dependent to an agriculture-dependent economy; have there been any deliberate policies that the Ministry has put in place to try to achieve this? 3. Did the Ministry do enough to inform the public about the Farmers Input Support Programme (FISP) in the previous farming season? 4. What major challenges did the Ministry face in trying to implement FISP in last year’s farming season? 5. What mechanisms has the Ministry put in place in readiness for this farming season to help avoid what transpired in the previous farming season, especially with regards to the implementation of FISP? 90