Solving problems in agriculture requires mature leadership - ZNFU

Solving problems in agriculture requires mature leadership - ZNFU
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Kafue
Mon 06 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT

ZAMBIA National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has observed that solving the current problems in the country’s agriculture sector requires “mature and sober leadership.” And ZNFU has advocated that Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) be transferred to Ministry of Commerce as part of rescuing the beleaguered fertiliser manufacturing plant.

The agriculture sector currently faces a number of challenges, epitomised by bottlenecks in the present maize marketing season, which has led to most farmers being left to the mercy of ‘briefcase buyers’ owing to limited funding by the government to Food Reserve Agency (FRA).

Key institutions like FRA and NCZ have continued to operate without management boards for close to two years despite key stakeholders having submitted proposed names of board members to agriculture minister Peter Daka.

Addressing workers and management of NCZ after touring the plant in Kafue on Thursday, ZNFU president Jervis Zimba said the local farmers had lost confidence in the current leadership at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Zimba said the local agriculture sector was currently in problems.

He complained that most small-scale farmers were getting a raw deal from the current maize marketing, thus leaving them vulnerable to briefcase buyers who were buying a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of maize at less than K30,000 compared to FRA’s K65,000.

“There is a problem at Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. President Rupiah Banda has provided leadership but at Ministry of Agriculture, their priority is somewhere else,” Zimba said.

“The fact that there are no boards at NCZ and FRA speaks volumes of the problems at Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Agriculture requires mature people in leadership with sober minds because here we are always dealing with human lives… they have to be careful.

They send wrong signals because today they say this, today they say this, tomorrow they say that… agriculture sector requires sober and mature leadership.”

And ZNFU said the problems facing NCZ were compounded by the wrong ministry under which it had been placed.

Zimba said Ministry of Agriculture lacked corporate ethics to manage a company profitably and in a sustainable way.

“Our debate is whether NCZ is under the right ministry. Let’s face things head-on,” said Zimba.

“We want this to be analysed. The reason is that we want this matter to be analysed and find ways of bringing on board private partnership to find a way of making you NCZ operate profitably and sustainably in the future. And in this case, we call on ZDA Zambia Development Agency to rise to the occasion and provide leadership on this matter.”

Earlier, NCZ managing director Richard Soko said the state-owned fertiliser manufacturing company had already completed manufacturing the 20,000 metric tonnes basal dressing fertilisers it was allocated under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).

Soko said allowing NCZ to deliver basal dressing fertilisers for one season could enable it to solve all the problems the beleaguered company was currently facing.

“If all that 89,000 metric tonnes of basal dressing fertilisers was awarded to NCZ, and there is no reason why not because we have the capacity to produce, would generate revenues in excess of K300 billion for NCZ,” said Soko.

“With that kind of that revenue, we will be able to sustain ourselves and not run back to the government…progressively rehabilitate the plant and ask for additional funds from anywhere. The only decision we are asking is that they award the whole contract of D compound to NCZ.”