700 bags of FSP fertiliser in Kaoma go missing

700 bags of FSP fertiliser in Kaoma go missing
Written by Mwala Kalaluka
Saturday, January 03, 2009 7:29:11 AM

ABOUT 700 by 50 kilogrammes bags of fertiliser earmarked for distribution to small-scale farmers under the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP) have gone missing at a storage shed in Kaoma.

Sources told The Post that some people involved in the fertiliser distribution were being probed and that comprehensive reports on the alleged misapplication of the inputs had since been sent to the FSP National Coordinating Office in Lusaka and the office of the Provincial Agricultural Coordinator in Mongu.

Kaoma district agricultural coordinator Imbuwa Mushebwa also confirmed the development and he said the situation had led to his office’s failure to satisfactorily distribute fertiliser to the 3,480 farmers targeted under the current farming season.

Mushebwa said apart from the bags of fertiliser, about 376 by 10 kilogramme pockets of seed had also gone missing at the shed whilst under the management of store managers from Omnia Fertiliser.

“For Kaoma, we had targeted 3,480 farmers. So we received Urea, 13,926 by 50kg bags; Compound D, 13, 906 by 50kg bags,” Mushebwa said. “A total of 3,447 farmers benefited as opposed to the targeted number of 3, 480, the problem being that we suffered some losses at the at the shed.”

Mushebwa said it was becoming apparent that some Omnia Fertiliser warehouse managers at the Kaoma Storage Sheds had not been honest in their dealings.

“They must have misapplied some of the inputs,” he said.

“We had 398 by 50 kg bags of basal dressing unaccounted for. We had 338 by 50kg bags of top dressing unaccounted for, although the warehouse managers say these were part of the fertilizer that was damaged. We had 376 by 10kg pockets of seed unaccounted for.”

He said following an administrative probe into the matter, Omnia Fertiliser had agreed to replace the misapplied fertiliser.

“The latest information is that the warehouse managers are going to replace the shortfall,” Mushebwa said.

When reminded that the misapplication of such government-funded initiatives was a criminal act, Mushebwa said the interest of the Ministry of Agriculture was to recover the missing inputs and it would be up to Omnia Fertiliser to take its officers to court and that such misapplications were criminal.

Complaints pertaining to problems in accessing fertiliser inputs have become rife in Kaoma and other parts of the country.

Agriculture minister Dr Brian Chituwo could not be reached for comment as he was reportedly attending a meeting by press time.

Yesterday, the National Association of Peasant and Small-Scale Farmers of Zambia described this season’s input distribution exercise as the worst since the beginning of the fertiliser support programme.