Maravi

FRA to spend $11.8m on silos countrywide

FRA to spend $11.8m on silos countrywide
By Lillian Namungala
Sunday October 28, 2007 [03:00]

FOOD Reserve Agency (FRA) marketing manager Richard Lisimba has disclosed that $11.8 million will be spent to rehabilitate silos countrywide. Lisimba said the money had been given by the Chinese. He said K2 billion would be spent on each silo in all the nine provinces. Lisimba said the Chinese who had just finished doing visibility studies would start working on the silos soon.

And Lisimba has assured farmers that they would start getting their money next week for the maize they sold to the agency. Lisimba said the money has been acquired from the maize export programme. He said since the directive by government to export maize, the FRA had exported maize to Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Democratic Republic of Congo.

“It is now interesting that we are now exporting maize to South Africa,” he said.
He said this year the FRA would export over 50 per cent.

He said so far the FRA has bought 398 metric tones of maize compared to last year when they only managed to buy 250 metric tones of maize.

Meanwhile, Central Province Permanent Secretary Denny Lumbama said farmers in the province were owed K10.5 billion.

During a meeting with FRA board members in Kabwe, Lumbama urged the agency to mobiles resources to pay the farmers.

“These peasant farmers need this money to prepare for the next farming season and to produce more, these farmers need money on time,” he said.

Lumbama also appealed to FRA to put up a storage shade in Serenje. And FRA vice board chairperson charity Mwansa said despite the shortage of funds and grain bags the agency would work to ensure food security in the country.

Labels: FRA, MAIZE, SILOS

posted by MrK @ 5:45 AM