Friday, March 29, 2024

Sell your Maize to FRA Contribute to the National strategic Food Reserve, Wina Tells Farmers

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Vice president, Inonge Wina has implored farmers countrywide to sell their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).

Mrs Wina said it is important that the one million farmers that are beneficiaries of the Framer Input Support Programme (FISP) should sell their maize to FRA in order to contribute to the national strategic food reserve.

Mrs Wina pointed out that it is regrettable that beneficiaries of FISP are prioritizing private buyers instead of selling maize to FRA.

The Vice president said this in Parliament yesterday when responding to a question from Nakonde Member of Parliament, Yizukanji Siwanzi who wanted to know if government has any intentions of allowing farmers to export their maize to realize maximum profit.

She emphasized that ensuring national and household food security should be a priority and can only be achieved by selling the merchandise to FRA.

“It is regrettable that farmers who are benefiting from FISP are selling maize to outsiders instead of ensuring food security by contributing to the national strategic food reserve. All famers under FISP should sell their maize and other crops to FRA before they think of selling elsewhere by doing so we will be supporting the FRA which is doing the work on behalf of government and the Zambian people,” she said.

Mrs Wina however, said some of the issues surrounding the maize purchase by FRA will be settled once the FRA Act which is under debate is enacted into law.

The Food Reserve Agency Bill provides for continued existence of the Food Reserve Agency and re-defines its functions which include re-constituting the Board of the Agency; continuing the existence of the National Strategic Food Reserve and repealing and replacing the Food Reserve Act, 1995.

17 COMMENTS

  1. This is very important advice. We are appealing to all the patriotic farmers to do so. I believe we have been successful at ensuring a successful farming season over the years. This will be another bumper harvest. We may soon have to donate some food to our friends in diaspora whose countries are badly affected.

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  2. FISP is a waste of resources & is unsustainable because there was no rigour in thinking of how beneficiaries would progressively graduate out of FISP. Invariably it is the same people benefitting from FISP each year. FRA on the other hand must give farmers a fair price and must be the one to export any excess with the margin gained through exports shared with the farmers. It is too painful and grossly unfair to the farmer to have a town-based cadre getting contracts to export maize all for his benefit leaving out the farmer. Farmers feel cheated.

  3. Give farmers fair price for their crop. Let FRA do the exporting and share profits with farmers not giving contracts to Katondo street guys to export and keep all profits. FISP is poorly thought out. FISP beneficiaries must graduate within a specific time period.

  4. No need for that. Let the fat cats and ZNS and Correctional facilities grow maize for FRA and farmers sell to anyone they feel like.

  5. No need for that. Let the fat cats and ZNS and Correctional facilities grow maize for FRA and farmers sell to anyone they feel like.

  6. Rightly said! Farmers should not sell their crops outside FRA. If we sell it FRA directly or indirectly, the money is going to use for Zambians.

  7. Farmers suffered a lot because of lockdown. But, even our government needs money to stabilize the country’s economy which is only possible if we all work together.

  8. Maize has a lot of demand in Zambia and other countries as well. Therefore farmers should be very careful to whom they are selling their crops.

  9. The price offered by FRA is low and the payment is not guaranteed. Selling to FRA is a death trap for farmers to perpetually keep them under FISP.

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