(TIMES) Send inputs on time
Send inputs on time’By Times Reporter
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to ensure that farming inputs for the next farming season are distributed to farmers on time.
Mr Banda said yesterday at the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) 104th annual congress that all inputs and particularly fertiliser reached all the districts by August.
“I now urge the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and all those involved in the distribution process to ensure that inputs reach the farmers on time,” he said.
The president said he would not accept any excuses for failure to distribute the inputs to the farmers on time.
Mr Banda said to improve farmers’ access to inputs, the Government had introduced the Farmer In-Put Support Programme (FISP) targeting more than 500,000 farmers in the next farming season.
He said the Government was aware of the increased cost of agricultural production and would continue to explore ways of reducing the cost of production to levels that would stimulate productivity and competitiveness.
The president said the financial sector needed to support the Government by providing farmers with adequate financing on reasonable terms that would be affordable to farmers.
The Government remain committed to provide budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector within the available fiscal space.
Mr Banda admitted that not much progress had been made on the development of irrigation farming and that he would see to it that it was effectively addressed to make Zambia a breadbasket for the region.
On crop marketing, he said he had directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to work with ZNFU to find ways of improving crop marketing through Private Public Partnership.
He said the only plausible way of resolving the crop marketing problem was by establishing a carefully planned marketing framework using public and private resources, which was an urgent need.
The president said to improve farmers’ access to inputs, the Government had introduced the FISP targeted at more than 500 farmers.
He assured the farmers that the agriculture sector remained a priority as it was the single-most effective tool to reduce poverty and create wealth.
Earlier, ZNFU president Jervis Zimba said the agriculture sector faced enormous challenges requiring urgent dialogue with the Government to find lasting solutions.
Mr Zimba said there was need to find a practical solution to the crop marketing problem and that the FISP should be enhanced to ensure that only genuine farmers benefited.
He said farmers were happy with the ban of the crop levy because it caused problems for farmers, especially that the levies were demanded before a farmer reached the market.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, RUPIAH BANDA
posted by MrK @ 7:16 PM
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