22 December 2008
THE Government has castigated commercial farmers and other private sector players in the milling industry for not being sincere over the availability of maize within the country when mealie meal prices started rising.
Responding to complaints by commercial farmers during a meeting in Mkushi at the weekend on the Government importation of maize when the local market still had stocks, Agriculture Minister, Brian Chituwo said the farmers were not being sincere over the matter.
Speaking on behalf of the commercial farmers, Simon Hunt wondered why the Government sanctioned the importation of maize when the locally produced crop had not yet been exhausted.
Mr Hunt said the importation of maize coupled with other problems like the depreciation of the Kwacha and high price of farming inputs were likely to adversely affect production during the current crop season if not addressed.
Dr Chituwo, however, said the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its data collection revealed that Zambia had enough maize stocks but the millers and other stakeholders told the Government that the situation on the ground was different.
"We consulted all the stakeholders in the farming sector and it is they that advised the Government that the country had run out of maize and as such we directed the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to offload its reserve and when this was exhausted we asked the agency to import.
"These stakeholders were deliberately withholding maize stocks so that they could selll the commodity now when prices are lucrative but I am sorry that they have to blame themselves," Dr Chituwo said.
The minister said the Government acted responsibly to ensure that the grain was available at all costs in Zammbia.
"We didn't want civil strife to arise because of maize shortages. Besides the Government was going to be taunted in all sorts of manner if we did not ask the FRA to bring in maize," Dr Chituwo said.
He said it was sad that stakeholders were never honest from the beginning and as such they should not cry foul now because they deliberately misled the Government into believing that the country had truly run out of maize.
The minister said the Government was serious about developing the agricultural sector as it played a pivotal role in enhancing development.
He said the Government was aware of the challenges that farmers were facing such as high prices of inputs on the international market, the issue of value added tax (VAT) as well marketing hurdles of maize.
"We have discussed these issues with the Zambia National Farmers Union but suffice to state that most of these problems hinge on the global financial crisis that has not spared Zambia as well the high prices of fertiliser obtaining internationally," he said.
The minister also disclosed that the Government was considering reviewing the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP) and the issue would soon be tabled before Cabinet for further scrutiny.
The FSP is a Government programme aimed at empowering small-scale farmers and Dr Chituwo was happy that the initiative was working well although it could not cater for very vulnerable farmers.
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