FRA Is Swindling Farmers…Let Them Increase The Amount They Pay Us, Charges Zimba
Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) President Jervis Zimba says the union
will ask Government to increase the amount it will pay farmers that have already supplied Maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) at K60 per bag.
Speaking in an exclusive telephone interview on Byta FM’s breaks ‘Cuundu Caitwa’ segment Wednesday morning, Zimba (below) noted that the amount offered by FRA is exactly the same figure the farmers on Farmer Support Input Programme (FISP) spent producing the Maize which just translates into a loss for them.
The ZNFU president explains that the production cost for farmers that are not on
Government support programme was K81 per 50 KG bag and these farmers had to borrow money to produce the maize.
Zimba has charged that Government through FRA is swindling farmers by offering them the exact cost of production as a buying price.
He has called on Government to be reasonable when coming up with the price for Maize if the agriculture sector is to benefit farmers in the country.
Zimba has since challenged Government to sort out problems surrounding the Maize floor price to avoid the same situation repeating its self in the coming farming season.