Govt to table agriculture credit amendment Bill

Govt to table agriculture credit amendment Bill
By Kabanda Chulu
Wed 13 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

GOVERNMENT will this year table in Parliament the Agriculture Credit Amendment Bill that will include warehousing receipt facility in the crop marketing programme to enable small-scale farmers access funds from banks even before selling their produce.

There have been complaints from many farmers around the country about late payments for their agricultural produce delivered at various Food Reserve Agency (FRA) depots and other buyers in the country.

It is therefore expected that the Agriculture Credit Bill would reduce the challenges facing the farmers in accessing payments since the warehouse receipt could be redeemed for cash at certain financial institutions.

According to a bulletin from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the crop marketing exercise had undergone various challenges especially that the FRA was not primarily a marketing institution but existed for strategic food reserve purposes.

“We could have taken the agro credit amendment Bill to Parliament but so many bills were on the table and some led to the changes in the budget cycle but the Bill is ready and it will be presented during the next session of parliament,” it stated. “The objective of the bill is to ensure market access for small-scale farmers who are left behind since commercial farmers are able to find market and its key features will be to incorporate the warehousing receipt system that will allow farmers to enter into contracts and have their commodity stored with the produce having value and they will be able to go to banks and borrow to prepare for their fields or buy necessities.”

It is expected that the coming of the Bill would ensure that marketing of agricultural produce was transacted in a fair and transparent manner.

“This will be a kind of insurance facility since it will allow farmers to plan for the next season and continue investing in agriculture because they will be assured of the market, actually this is a positive development for the Zambian farmer,” it stated.

It is visualised that the enactment of the agro credit amendment bill would supplement and enhance the operations of commodity trading exchanges such as the Zambia Agricultural Commodities Exchange (ZAMACE) in availing marketing opportunities for small-scale farmers across the country.