Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Peter Daka has said government has good reasons for revising the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) by giving farmers four packs of fertilizer instead of eight as was the case in the previous programme.
Mr Daka said the decision to reduce the packs of inputs given to individual farmers was meant to increase the number of beneficiaries under the FISP. He said it was also realised that most farmers did not have the potential to utilise all the eight packs and as a result were abusing the extra fertiliser by reselling the inputs.
He was speaking when he visited Power-Line Cooperative farm in Bahati constituency in Mansa on Saturday where 24 farmers pooled their four packs of inputs together to cultivate a 12 hectare farm of maize jointly owned by the cooperative members. The four pack inputs are only enough for a half-hectare.
The agriculture minister praised the Power-Line Cooperative members for the initiative taken to work on one farm, saying he was impressed with their work and that the crop promised good yield. He was visiting the farm as an envoy for President Rupiah Banda who failed to do so during his last tour to Luapula Province.
Mr Daka said it is the intention of government to see members of a cooperative work together by putting their efforts and ideas to expand their crop production as well as seek financial support from lending institutions.
“This is a typical example of how working together can make farmers achieve great things because the word cooperative means putting effort and ideas together. It is also a confirmation that FISP is working,” Mr Daka said.
He promised the farming group that government would help to link them to institutions like the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) and other financing agents so that they could access capital to mechanise the farm.
He said while it was not possible for government to give oxen or tractors to farmers, it was going to facilitate the process to ensure farmers like Power-Line Cooperative had guaranteed market for their crop and access farming implements through cheaper capital from CEEC and other lending institutions.
Earlier the cooperative chairman Benson Kabwe said the farmers under the cooperative were cultivating using hoes and appealed to President Banda to source a tractor of cattle for them.
ZANIS
huh! This guy is Argriculture Minister,From being a Club DJ,my Zambia:o:o:o:o
Its a lie. The no. of recipients has actually decreased. Daka give us stats town by town and I will challenge you.
#1 Wanzelu, are you sayng this is the famous P. Funk of the Eighties, at Clouds Disco?
Lord have mercy on Zambia, Anyway, P. Funk was my greatest, lets groove the Agriculture Show man, just this once, YABA!!!
:((Govt is trying to increase or level production by turnover-by engaging a lot of farmers to partcipate in the FISP. This has a multiplier and tricle down effect to the economy-Bravo MACO
Guys Guys…The Hon Minister was never a popular DJ..not to my best of memories..The P Funk you are talking about is PETER MBEWE, now an assistant Director at BOZ. He is an Economist