The Seed Growers Association (SGA) for Mumbwa District has advised the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to improve on the payments of money to farmers .
District Seed Growers Association Chairperson Phariot Phiri charged that most farmers were unsatisfied with the slow remittal payments from the FRA.
He said due to this trend, that many farmers have opted to sell their maize to private buyers and millers who were buying grain at K50,000 spot cash per 50kg bag.
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He said the situation was un favourable to farmers who needed to utilize the monies on preparations for the next farming season as well as production needs.
Mr. Phiri however counseled farmers to keep abreast with factors such as weather pattern predictions and world fuel price trends, which had a bearing on agricultural activities.
He stated that the rising prices of fuel had pushed up the costs of farming inputs such as seed as well as fertilizer.
He said it was important for farmers to have some insight of weather predictions so that they could buy the right seeds to be planted at the right time.
On hunger , Mr. Phiri said the hunger situation was not generally as rampant as claimed .
He said the Seed Growers Association had in stock enough to enable the District achieve food security from the 2008-2009 farming season.
And FARMERS in Monze district have called on government to seriously look into issues of marketing and come up with sustainable strategies that would empower small scale farmers.
Monze Pemba farmers Association Chairman Simon Malambo many farmers would have been victims of unscrupulous maize dealers due to inadequate satellite depots.
Speaking during the Monze Pemba farmers Association annual general meeting held at the Zambia College of Agriculture toady, Mr. Malambo said Monze district like other districts in the country had two satellite depots only which where not adequate during this marketing season.
Mr. Malambo said that government should other than encouraging private sector to participate put in place regulation that will prevent the exploitation of farmers.
He thanked government for ensuring that agriculture gets the rightful support and respect as a major contributing sector to the country’s economic development during the reign of late president Levy Mwanawasa.
And Monze district commissioner Joyce Nondo said in a speech read on her behalf by the district administrative officer Mr. Holland Munsaka said that government would continue considering agriculture as the engine of Zambia’s economic and social development.
Ms. Nonde admitted that the cry of small farmers over marketing issues were serious and needed to be addressed in order to empower the farmers.
She said though the district had Njola and Milele satellite depots , that small scale farmers were finding it difficult to reach the depots as they were made to cover many kilometers.
She said that the office of the District Commissioner had already written to Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and other relevant authorities to consider increasing the number of depots and come up with regulations for the private sector participation.
Ms. Nonde said that through Fertilizer Support Program (FSP) government had the desire to ensure that the rural majority are food secure.
The DC said government’s vision was to have an efficient, competitive and sustainable agricultural sector that would assure food security and increased income as enshrined in the fifth national development plan 2006-2010.
ZANIS/PB/MK/ENDS
While you are maliciously in personality rhetoric overdrive, Rupiah Banda cognizant of time at hand to canvas the whole country unveils economic masterplan…, and since made himself more available on issues with Zambians hour after hour, day after day and event after event through ground and air campaign wars.As a seasoned Diplomat, he knows that personality rhetoric has no dividends in the ballot.
Such is the enormity and versatility of the master plan that the incoming CEO or President has unveiled for the country!
Hear him and about him on every news hour prime time
FRA – fellow farmers these problems have always been there. There’s no efficiency in the system.
#1 , your contribution could be of value but please learn to study the topic then post you comment. The above comment dosn’t tally with the topic. I have read most of your contributions, for me, you only show stuck you are, you its RB and notthing else nomatter what the topic is. Improve and make this site interesting to visit.
Whenis UNZA going to be re-OPENED?
The problem is that the FRA has money ! It’s staff and workers are so well paid and they are busy building homes and developing their farms !! But they are sitting on the payments of the farmers – this is absolute rubbish !! The Chairman of FRA, Costain Chilala should look into this !!
I think people at FRA offices have failed people of Zambia particulary farmers. For longtime now all we hear is that farmers are not paid on time and this inconviences and subject them to poverty and lose of yield for next farming season coz am sure most farmers dont have money to start cultivating on time if they are not paid on time.
When is pay day for farmers gonna be? FRA answer””
FRA is another arm of a legalized plunderer. LPM legalized plunder by making the task force which has collected money which is not being used. Everything under levy was LAW LAW LAW, He hid in the law and it shall surely search him out even at embassy park coz what ever measure u mete on pipo, the same shall be used on u. He aquired land and mechanized his farms so fast that u cant imagine. Let the law look him up posthoumously
FRA needs Zambian farmers and not the other way around. If the farmers were smart enough, like the ones here in Europe, they would get together and form their own union to protect their interests and not be forced to sell out their hard laboured produce at monkey prices. K50,000 for a 50kg bag of grain! That’s only 10 Euros!!!!
fRA NEED TO BE SERIOUS WITH WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO BE DOING.
this crazy about fra employees being paid alot of money shold not go unchallenged.fra is a public institution meaning that if you care to know how much workers are paid you can easily have that info.its not a secret.get hold of the condiotions of service.you will be shocked.they are amongst the most lowly paid.plz confirm this.where do you leave the pp who are well paid and yet got scotfree? do your research.freedom of speech should not used reponsibly.as a zambian am ashamed that we ait using this site to dicuss REAL issues.we are just like pp seated at soweto market chatting.bring out real issues of an imterllectual nature.but anyway am told this site also has kabovas blogging.