A top Zambian government official warns the southern African country risks lagging behind in technology advancement if there is no investment in space science, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

Gabriel Namulambe, the minister of science, technology and vocational training, said there was need to promote and exploit science and technology as an instrument for development, adding that an environmentally friendly and indigenous technological capacity was a catalyst for socio-economic development.

Speaking in Zambia's tourist capital, Livingstone in Southern Province, at the start of an International Heliophysical Year Africa Scintillation Network Decision Aid meeting, the Zambian minister said Africa was falling behind in space science and technology advancement while the developed world had advanced at an increasing pace.

"Africa is not at the stage of development where science and technology should appear on Africa's agenda because we have many problems such as high poverty levels, high unemployment, underdeveloped transport and communication infrastructure," Namulambe was quoted as saying.

According to the Zambian minister, participating in science projects has possible benefits in socio-economic sectors such as in agriculture, minerals, forests and land resource mapping, as well as population monitoring and control.