Sub-chief Munyambala of the Kaonde speaking people in Mufumbwe district has expressed concern over the K110 price by which the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will be buying a 50 kilogram bag of maize.
Sub-chief Munyambala told ZANIS in an interview yesterday that the K110 crop price for the 2020 marketing season is little compared to the cost the farmers put into their production activities.
The traditional leader appealed to the government to consider increasing the price to at least K130 per 50 kilogram bag of maize.
He explained that this would enable farmers to realize some reasonable benefits from their hard work which would eventually result in poverty reduction at household level.
Meanwhile, sub-chief Munyambala has appealed to the government to work on the access roads in his chiefdom if his subjects are to see meanful development in the area.
He said a good road network will, among other things, enable private buyers who might be interested in buying maize from his people have easy access to his area thereby giving farmers a choice of where to sell their produce.
The traditional leader explained that it is not every farmer who might sell their produce to FRA hence it is important for government to create an enabling environment through a good road network in the area.
He said his subjects have potential of becoming commercial farmers but the poor road network has always made it difficult to the marketplace.
Besides the K110 for 50 kilogramme bag of maize, FRA has fixed the price of a 50 kilogramme bag of soya beans at K150 and paddy rice at K70 for a 40 kilogramme bag.
Two things will happen here, either the price will stay the same or it is deliberate move to set the same price for last year, then the humble listening daddy will hear his children”s cry and we all know what happens.