Maravi

FRA should count itself irrelevant, says chief Hanjalika

FRA should count itself irrelevant, says chief Hanjalika
By Henry Chibulu in Mazabuka
Sunday July 13, 2008 [04:00]

CHIEF Hanjalika of Mazabuka has said the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) should count itself irrelevant in this year’s maize marketing exercise because the private sector is buying maize at a more attractive price in his chiefdom. Chief Hanjalika told ZANIS in Mazabuka yesterday that the private sector was buying a 50 kilogramme bag of maize at K50,000 cash. He said farmers were happy with the prices the millers and other maize traders were offering, especially that it was more than the government recommended floor price of K45,000.

Chief Hanjalika said villagers would not allow FRA to buy maize given the attractive prices from millers and other traders. Chief Hanjalika said the delay by the FRA to move in and buy off maize from farmers in his chiefdom would disadvantage the government because all the maize would be bought by the private sector.

He said it would be expensive for the government to buy maize outside the country in the event that the nation was hit by food shortages. Chief Hanjalika urged the government to strengthen cooperatives by injecting huge sums of money to enable them meet modern challenges of agriculture and marketing technics. Chief Hanjalika said FRA had proved to be a failure in the maize marketing process as evidenced by its delay to pay farmers in last year’s marketing season on time and now its failure to buy maize on time.

FRA has only opened two purchasing depots in Malabo area in chieftainess Mwenda’s chiefdom and Chivuna in chief Hanjalika’s area.

Labels: CHIEF HANJALIKA, FRA, MAIZE, MAZABUKA DISTRICT

posted by MrK @ 6:29 AM