Maravi

Maize fiasco

Maize fiasco
By The Post
Wed 01 June 2011, 04:00 CAT

Eustarkio Kazonga, the Minister of Agriculture, on May 16, 2011 announced the Crop Forecast Survey for the 2010/2011 production season and the national Food Balance Status for the 2011/2012 marketing season.

Kazonga, in his speech, stated that: “The official crop production estimates that I am releasing today are based on a universally applied scientific survey method that is used every year. The survey is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Central Statistical Office and covers all the districts of the country.”

We therefore take Kazonga’s word for it and the released official statistics as accurate. He announced that the Crop Forecast Survey indicated that the country had produced 3,020,380 tonnes of maize which represents an eight per cent increase over last year’s figure of 2,795,483 tonnes.

Kazonga attributed this “historic” achievement to an increase of area cultivated by small and medium-scale farmers by 11 per cent; an increase in the area planted by these farmers due to the good price and guaranteed market provided by the Food Reserve Agency last season; increase in the quantity of inputs distributed by the government and increase in use of hybrid seed.

Good weather was conveniently left out as one of the key contributing factors to this grand production.

We should, however, not be misunderstood to be against farmers. To the contrary, we commend our farmers for this grand production. However, we sympathise with farmers as this mono-crop approach is shrouded in deception, tainted with malice and a political tool to win rural support.

Government funds or guarantees to FRA borrowing are used as the bait for small and medium-scale farmers to grow maize by the tonnes.

Dora Siliya, the Minister of Education, was seen on ZNBC television earlier this year, excitedly announcing that the MMD government had put K1.3 trillion in peasant farmers’ pockets. However, researched facts indicate otherwise.

Whilst it is true that the government spent considerably more than this amount, the beneficiaries were generally not the targeted farmers but a series of better-off farmers. The Food Security Research Project in its Working Paper number 49 of January 2011 titled, ‘Who Gained and Who Lost from Zambia’s 2010 Maize Marketing Policies?’ revealed that the government’s 2010 maize policies produced both winners and losers – the government being winners and our poor farmers, the losers.

It stated that: “Because they raise maize prices, in the short-term, the government’s policies in 2010 positively affect households that sell maize: large-scale farmers and the roughly 26 per cent of smallholder households that sell more maize than they buy.

But the benefits of the high FRA buy price and large quantities purchased accrue to a small number of relatively better off medium-scale farmers that account for the majority of the maize sold by smallholders. By raising maize prices, the 2010 maize marketing policies negatively affect households that buy maize: urban consumers and the approximately 36 per cent of smallholder households that buy more maize than they sell...”

It is therefore important for our people to understand that in the 2010 government financial year, the Ministry of Agriculture was allocated K1.3 trillion. It requires little intelligence – if little is all that one has – to realise that agriculture is much bigger than maize production.

However, against this logic, we see that this same government by its own admission spent more than 100 per cent of its allocation to agriculture on maize grain input support and marketing! The 2011 budget allocation to agriculture is K1.23 trillion and yet again the government is poised to spend more than its own allocation to agriculture on maize.

From this wastefulness, we are well placed to confer the title of Minister of Maize on Kazonga and to indicate to our people that much of the alleged Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives allocated finances and time are spent on promotion of maize production. The magnitude of the impact of maize on the Treasury is such that its support is even greater than the entire allocation to health! This is scary and warrants questioning or some very serious reflections.

The 2011/2012 Food Balance Status shows that this marketing season has opened with carryover stocks of 848,606 tonnes of which 75 per cent or 636,000 tonnes are held by FRA. The rest are expected to be held by millers – mostly bought from FRA at government’s directed US $160 per tonne – traders and some farmers.

The irony of this is that those farmers who held on to their maize, expecting higher prices after planting, had a rude shock when Ronnie Shikapwasha, the Minister of Information and government spokesperson, announced that the government had directed the FRA to sell maize to millers at US $160 and for export at US $200.

This eliminated their market to local millers and made our maize expensive to the export market, particularly Zimbabwe, where 60 per cent of our exported maize is announced to have gone.

The high opening stock figures also indicate that we underperformed on our exports. Market players state that optimistically, FRA exported 300,000 tonnes of maize between October 2010 and now. And Kazonga stated that most of the carryover stocks are in safe storage under the FRA. No honest assessment has been made as to how much of this maize is actually fit for human consumption.

There are indications that most of the maize is bad or poorly stored. Further, the Food Security Research Programme indicated that the Treasury was losing almost US $100 per tonne for each tonne of maize exported due to the high purchase price it was bought at. The taxpayer absorbs these very high and unacceptable costs.

This government does not indicate to its people the impact on service delivery of these maize subsidies.

And the Crop Forecast Survey indicated that from the nationwide production figure, plus the carryover stocks, the country has total maize stocks of 3,868,986 tonnes.

However, this does not mean that all of this maize is readily available. Out of this total, when we subtract a statistical estimation of human consumption (maize meal and FRA net stocks of 240,000 tonnes), industrial use (stock feed breweries and seed) and modest five per cent losses, we remain with an estimation of national total surplus of 1,661,626 tonnes.

This does not mean that this is the amount of maize that has been securely stored or is available but it is a statistical indication of the amount of maize which is potentially available as a surplus given the allowances for the various local uses. It is therefore a misrepresentation to tell the nation that Zambia has recorded a surplus of 1.6 million tonnes.

It is equally a blatant lie for this government to tell our people that they will buy all their maize. This is a clear hallucination. However, the Crop Forecast Survey indicates that out of this total production of maize, farmers are expected to sell 1,619,622 tonnes. Of this, small and medium-scale farmers have produced 1,429,890 tonnes and this is supposed to be the group which FRA buys from.

If indeed this government is mad enough to want to buy all these potential sales, they need K1.86 trillion (about US $395 million). This level of expenditure does not include the costs of logistics and administration to get the maize from farmers to safe storage! Where is the Treasury going to find such gigantic sums of money?

Even if this money were sourced, what is the private sector expected to do? Are we going to see a situation where commercial banks start lending money to FRA guaranteed by the government or the organising of strange financing deals for the government?
One would not be far off the mark to suggest that this maize fiasco is a calculated scheme motivated by self-enrichment and preservation of the current regime.

Rupiah Banda and his friends should reveal to our people how much was spent on maize in 2010, how much was raised from exports and how much has been lost from subsidies.

This information must be made available before the taxpayer is asked to pay more for maize. The price of tomatoes recently crashed due to over-production but we did not see government rush in to intervene. Over a week ago, the government announced it was going to spend K1 trillion on roads.

Why should the Treasury spend so much money on maize grain at the expense of service provision in sectors such as health and education and on safe drinking water and roads? We know that where there is chaos, someone is overly benefiting. What would happen if law enforcement agencies such as the Anti Corruption Commission and Drug Enforcement Commission investigated the government and FRA officials handling these maize purchases and sales, especially exports? How have their assets increased since they started handling maize?

Greed may be acceptable with one’s own money but to pay lip service, deceive our farmers and use taxpayers’ funds to further hoodwink them is pure evil and must come to an end. Let us put an end to the maize fiasco!

Labels: BRIAN TEMBO, EUSTARKIO KAZONGA, MAIZE

posted by MrK @ 10:29 PM