Government has been challenged to substantiate its projection of a bumper harvest in the 2014/2015 farming season.
Government has projected a bumper harvest for the farming season with a maize production expected to reach over 3, 350, 671 metric tonnes.
But the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) says the Minister of Agriculture Wylbur Simuusa should tell the nation exactly how this projected bumper harvest will be attained.
YALI governance advisor Isaac Mwanza says his organization’s asking government to substantiate this projection is in view of how the last farming season performed badly due to delayed rains and late delivery of farming inputs.
Mr. Mwanza has told Qfm news that this is why much as his organization welcomes the projection of a bumper harvest such a projection should be authenticated so that people in the country are not given false hope of a the country having sufficient food production.
He adds that if indeed there will be a bumper harvest government should also ensure that the harvested crops do not go to waste as it has been in the past where the harvest goes to waste due to insufficient storage space.
Mr. Mwanza says government should for this reason ensure that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) is able to transport the harvest in the quickest possible time to designated areas of storage.
I also would be happy to hear the methodological approach used to arrive at this projection. Being a farmer myself with two large fields greater than 4 hectares, I still do not know my expected harvest because I have not harvested yet. Equally most other farmers are either harvesting now or are yet to. No Govt agent has been to my field, too!! Meanwhile, it is folly to lift maize export ban. First, let the m.meal prices drop, then allow export of excess quantities!!
It is important to see that the PF government explains well on how they arrived at that pumper harvest when they did not support farmers fully with fertilizer. It is not right to cheat your own citizen that we shall enjoy alot of meals when the price of meali-meal are high and at the sametime you tell the farmers not to sale from the outsiders. People are aware today what these leaders are doing. Just wait to see 2016 when it comes, you shall be suprised and you shall say that “we dug our own grave”.
Indeed this is an organization of children. Very childish.
The Zambian Eye reports:
“Bumper harvest is a reality in my Chiefdom,” says Chief Chikanta.
Why government to substantiate?
Why NOT ask the farmers themselves or the Farmers Union!
its selective methodology used. not all farmers are visited but they do a transpolation with + 5 or – 5 accuracy. These figures are representative of traditional maize producers provinces such as Central, southern & eastern provinces. The same method has been in the past years with 70 to 80% accuracy. So baane, the bumper harvest is possible.