The Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives (MACO) says the Decentralisation Policy is bearing fruits as evidenced by the successful distribution of agricultural inputs under the Fertiliser Input Support Programme (FISP) countrywide.

MACO Director for Cooperatives Development, Mulemwa Sitwala said the decentralisation of FISP and involvement of local leadership in the distribution of farming inputs has lessened the challenges faced under the previous Fertiliser Support Programm (FSP).

Mrs Sitwala said this today when she presented a report on the status and Impact of FISP Monitoring and evaluation of Lusaka Province to Provincial Permanent Secretary, Stephen Bwalya.

She explained that the formation of Camp Agricultural Committees who are now handling the selection of Small Scale Farmers has seen a remarkable reduction in complaints from beneficiaries unlike before under the District Agricultural Committees.

Mrs Sitwala also said that the general crop outlook in the province is good despite the erratic rainfall pattern experienced in the province lately.

She added that under FISP, government has devised mechanisms that have enabled the province to receive appropriate seed varieties particularly for drought prone areas such as Kavalamanja in Luangwa District.

And Lusaka Province Permanent Secretary, Stephen Bwalya said government has placed Agriculture development as a key to economic development in the country.

Mr Bwalya has since urged youths to seriously engage in farming as a business to make a meaningful contribution towards national food security at both household and national level.

Lusaka Province has received a total of 148,000 x 50kg of both Urea and D-Compound fertilizer and 370 metric tonnes of seed for 37,000 small scale farmers for the 2009/2010 farming season.

ZANIS

THE Energy Regulation Board(ERB) has increased the pump price of fuel and other petroleum products by 15 per cent with immediate effect.Acting ERB executive Director Joshua Malupenga said the excise duty on diesel had also been revised upwardly.

Mr Malupenga said the move followed the board’s decision to increase the prices of diesel, petrol and kerosene by 15 per cent with effect from midnight last night. “The increase has mainly been necessitated by a rise in prices of crude oil from US$40 per barrel in early 2009 to the current price of about $82 per barrel.

“Consequently the cost of a 90,000-tonne cargo has increased from US$40 million in February/March 2009 to $70 million in December 2009,” said Mr Malupenga. He said, the excise duty on diesel had been adjusted from seven per cent to 10 percent with effect from January 1, 2010. The new Tazama pumping tariff of $53.52 per tonne approved by the board last month had been applied as opposed to the previous rate of $39 per tonne.

Mr Malupenga said the new prices were necessary to ensure that the product from the 90,000 tonne Iron Monger Cargo that docked at the port of Dar- es-Salaam in Tanzania in December, was sold at an appropriate rate for sustainable supply. In Lusaka, the new pump prices would be K6, 691 for petrol, K6,300 for diesel and K4,409 kerosene while, in Kasama the new prices are K7,508 petrol, K7,119 for diesel and K5,114 kerosene.

In Livingstone petrol will now cost K7, 148, diesel K6, 757 and kerosene K4, 804 while, in Chipata petrol will be K7, 347, diesel K6, 958 and kerosene K4,976 and in Solwezi petrol will be K6,943, diesel K6,552 and kerosene K4,314. The new price of petrol in Kabwe is K6, 661, diesel (K6, 270) and kerosene (K4, 384) while in Mansa petrol will cost K7, 370, diesel K6, 981 and kerosene K4, 996 and in Mongu petrol will cost K7,455, diesel K7,066 and kerosene K5,069. For Ndola petrol will cost K6,579, diesel K6,188 and kerosene K4,314.

Mr Malupenga said: “It should be noted that petroleum product prices were last adjusted in December 2008. The prices were largely kept stable from 2008 to date through government subsidies meant to cushion customers.”

He said that in view of the changes, retailers were expected to issue receipts for all sales made, while customers were advised to demand and keep receipts that clearly showed the name of the service stations and other purchasing details. Mr Malupenga said the record was important for future reference in case of any dispute or complaints of overpricing.

[Times of Zambia]

ZAMBIA’S leather exports have grown three-fold to US$10 million over the last few years, Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) director of export promotion and market development, Glyne Michelo has said. And Western Province Permanent Secretary Ikanuke Noyoo said the leather industry was faced with a number of challenges including inadequate expertise in leather processing and inferior technology.

Mr Michelo said in Lusaka yesterday the country’s leather exports had grown to $10 million in 2008 from a total of $3.5 million in 2003.
He said the major products exported from leather included crocodile skins, wet blue leather, crust and finished products such as footwear.

Key export markets for leather products included South Africa, Singapore, Democratic Republic of Congo, Japan, Hong Kong, Malawi and the United Kingdom. “You may also be aware that Zambia is currently producing soccer balls under the Alive and Kicking Project being undertaken in the country.

“I am reliably informed that the quality of the Zambian soccer balls is very competitive in this region, perhaps by the next World Cup, we can supply FIFA with balls made in Zambia,” Mr Michelo said at a leather sensitisation workshop hosted by ZDA.

On September 24, 2009, ZDA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Ethiopia with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute known as COMESA LLPI to facilitate cooperation between the two organisations in the development of the leather industry in Zambia and the region.

Mr Michelo said ZDA organised the workshop to ensure that players in the industry were aware of the implementation framework available through the COMESA LLPI. The meeting was organised to engage the sector players and other stakeholders in the formulation of an implementation plan to ensure that the MOU achieved the set objectives.

At the same workshop, Mr Noyoo said inadequate supply of affordable capital to venture into production of finished goods had remained a challenge in the industry. Mr Noyoo, who led the delegation which went to sign the MOU in Ethiopia, said there was need for Zambian leather producers to learn lessons from their counterparts in Ethiopia.

Some of the lessons the delegation learnt while in Ethiopia included effective training of young people, use of goat skins, work culture, effective effluent disposal and encouraging foreign investors to produce finished goods.

Mr Noyoo said the Zambian leather industry would benefit from the exchange of experts and technology as well as participation in each other’s exhibitions and shows to share information.

[Times of Zambia]

The Patents and Companies Registration Office (PACRO) has disclosed that government has embarked on a national wide programme to streamline business licenses to business organizations that do not comply with the outlined regulations.

PACRO Senior Inspector of Companies Wilson Banda said it is sad that most business houses in the country do not submit their annual returns including relevant statutory fees on time, a situation he said has made it difficult for the organization to ascertain their existence.

Mr. Banda said this in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday

He has meanwhile clarified that the basis behind annual returns is not the revenue collected, but rather the issue of compliance as provided for in section 184 of the Companies Act Cap 388 of the Laws of Zambia

He said it is for this reason that government has put in place measures for any business wishing to register with the Public Procurement Authority to submit their latest annual returns together with PPA forms to enhance cooperation and efficiency between the two parties.

Mr. Banda also disclosed that Section 361 of the Companies Act Cap 388 empowers the Registrar of Societies to strike off any company from the register of companies for non compliance.

Meanwhile Mr. Banda has noted that a number of business institutions, especially those operating in the informal sector, opt to directly go to local municipalities for their various trade licenses without being questioned over their business registration by PACRO.

Mr. Banda has since called on individuals in the country wishing to register companies to follow the right procedure to avoid being in conflict with the law.

Last year in December PACRO expressed displeasure at the escalating levels of briefcase businesses.

ZANIS