Isoka District Agriculture Coordinator (DACO) Lameck Chola has described the 2022 grain purchase in the area as disastrous .
Mr Chola laments that through the Food Reserved Agency ( FRA), government has only managed to purchase 10,000 bags x 50 kilogrammes of maize.
Speaking on the sidelines of the post-harvest data collection for Isoka food security drive which concluded Saturday, Mr Chola attributed the low purchases of maize grain to private maize buyers suspected to be coming from the neighbouring countries.
“We have never experienced such a low purchase of maize by FRA in the history of Isoka district ,” lamented Mr. Chola.
Private buyers using their own transport are following farmers are buying the essential commodity at K240 cash, a move that has lured farmers to sell off their produce.
In 2021 the FRA bought 150,000 x 50’kgs of white maize compared to 10,000 bags purchased this year.
And a farmer in the area Musyani. Simengwa says Isoka risks experiencing hunger as the grain reserves in area have run low.
Mr Simengwa said government should quickly intervene in the matter and ensure that the main staple food for citizens in the area is readily available.
If private buyers are offering K240 per bag cash while FRA is offering K180 per bag and you don’t know when you ate going to get paid then it’s obvious you sell to those offering cash at a higher price.