Govt has taken farmers for granted - former MP

Govt has taken farmers for granted - former MP
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Monday, May 04, 2009 12:36:34 AM

FORMER member of parliament for Chipangali constituency Lucas Phiri has warned that farmers in Eastern Province will export their maize to Malawi if the Zambian government's floor price will be below K80,000 per 90 kilogramme (kg) bag.
In an interview in Lusaka, Phiri said the government had taken farmers for granted and did not have a proper marketing system of the farm produce.

"As a farmer who has seen that the poverty levels in villages are very high due to government's poor planning in marketing the maize, I want to timely warn the government that should they continue with low prices the way they did last year, in Eastern Province I don't think they will get the expected maize they want to buy. We will take our maize to Malawi, the way Malawi dealers bought a lot of our maize last year," Phiri said.

"If government is not ready to give us above K80,000 per bag, then they have lost the opportunity, we also want to benefit."

He observed that farmers were poorer than consumers of farm produce because of government's failure to address their concerns.

"The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) last year offered K45,000 at first and Malawi buyers were offering us at K70,000 and K60,000 at that time per bag. So when the Zambian government saw that they didn't buy a lot of maize, they increased the prices to K55,000 per bag but the Malawians were buying at K90,000 and K95,000. So this year, looking at the prices of fertiliser, we bought per bag at K250,000 and K265,000. So that means if the government goes ahead with their planned price of K65,000, the FRA will not get our maize because the government is taking farmers for granted," he said.

"The situation now is that we will call it tit for tat. If they want to get our maize cheaply and then sell mealie-meal as high as it is now fetching K70,000 and K75,000, when they bought our maize for K45,000, this time around they won't get that."

Phiri said the MMD government last year lied to farmers that subsidised fertiliser would cost K50,000.

"Those were election tricks. As a person who is a farmer, when the fertiliser came, it was not enough, in some cooperatives, only four people or so benefited," he said.

And Phiri said tobacco farmers in the province were struggling to find market for their tobacco.

"Farmers are sleeping outside for almost five nights at those sheds where they are selling their tobacco," revealed Phiri. "That is unacceptable."