Maravi

ZNFU condemns transfer of Irrigation Development Fund

ZNFU condemns transfer of Irrigation Development Fund
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tuesday March 25, 2008 [03:00]

ZAMBIA National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has condemned government’s decision to transfer the Irrigation Development Fund (IDF) to the Citizens Economic Empower-ment Commission (CEEC). And the ZNFU has threatened to withdraw its membership from the irrigation steering committee. In an interview, ZNFU second vice-president Jervis Zimba said the IDF risked being abused if placed under the CEEC.

“We are totally shocked and we condemn the decision by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to release the Irrigation Development Fund under the CEEC,” Zimba said. “How can the Minister of Agriculture (Sara Sayifwanda) decide to take the fund to CEEC without consulting us farmers, the stakeholders? That fund was a special fund to be managed specifically to support the irrigation programme in the country and our targets are small-scale farmers but how do you expect that to be achieve when you place the fund at the whims of the CEEC which does not even understand the special needs of the farmers?”

Recently, the government announced that IDF would be disbursed under the CEEC.

And Zimba said ZNFU was “seriously” considering withdrawing its membership from the irrigation steering committee because the farmers felt the original concept of the fund had been lost.

Zimba disclosed that ZNFU would next month convene a special executive board meeting at which the intention would be discussed.

“Our intention was to run the irrigation fund in the manner in which we create the Irrigation Development Agency, a body similar to the operations of the Road Development Agency (RDA) and our donors had indicated that they were willing to help us implement this programme,” Zimba said. “But the minister’s decision to shift the fund to the CEEC where it would be at the whims of political influence is unwelcome. Just look at programmes like the fertiliser support programme that have been run under political influence, they have all failed to achieve their intended goals. And the same CEEC does not even have a representation of the farmers, so how is our voice going to be carried?”

Labels: CEEC, IRRIGATION, ZNFU

posted by MrK @ 7:33 AM