Maravi

Govt not being truthful about actual stocks of maize – ZNFU

Govt not being truthful about actual stocks of maize – ZNFU
Written by Joan Chirwa
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 12:32:26 PM

THE Ministry of Agriculture is being economical with the truth about the actual stocks of maize in the country, Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) president Jervis Zimba has said.

Reacting to agriculture minister Dr Brian Chituwo's statement that commercial farmers and some players in the milling industry were not being sincere over the availability of maize within the country, Zimba said farmers in the country have been consistent with providing information on maize stocks.

“ZNFU is extremely disappointed with the minister. He is being economical with the truth. Currently, there are no farmers who are hoarding maize. Farmers have less than 10,000 metric tonnes of maize,” Zimba said. “It is important that the minister first gets information from ZNFU, and we are more than willing to do so. We have tried to seek an audience to brief him [Dr Chituwo] about all these things. The truth is that government knows who is hoarding maize, and it is not the commercial farmers.”

Zimba said the government had erred with the millers, and not the farmers.

“The minister should not attack the farmers like that. Farmers cannot hoard maize,” said Zimba. “We anticipate that by April next year, we will have 100,000 metric tonnes of early maize released on the market by commercial farmers, and this has already been communicated to the Ministry of Agriculture. Now where does the picture of farmers come from?”

During a meeting with farmers in Mkushi last weekend, Dr Chituwo accused the farmers of not being sincere over the issue of maize. His response came after Simon Hunt, a commercial farmer, wondered why the government sanctioned the importation of maize when the local crop had not yet been exhausted.

An audit conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture last month showed that the total maize stock for the country was recorded at 301,000 metric tonnes, enough to last until April next year without imports, a time when early maize would have been released on the market by the commercial farmers. Sources disclosed that milling companies had a total of 140,000 metric tonnes while the FRA held 96,000 tonnes after offloading 20,000 tonnes on to the market, and the remaining 65,000 tonnes was held by the grain traders. But the government has in a statement defended its decision to import maize, indicating that stakeholders had advised the government during a recent meeting that the current stocks of maize were not enough to meet the country's consumption requirements before the next harvest.

Labels: JERVIS ZIMBA, MAIZE, ZNFU

posted by MrK @ 12:32 PM