Maize marketing at crossroads
By Editor
Tue 08 June 2010, 08:20 CAT
We can state with full consciousness that the current maize bumper output the country achieved this year is a disaster in the making.
The potential of this feat going sour is so high. And every day, we see this potential racing towards fruition – at least, if the behaviour of key stakeholders in the maize marketing is anything to go by.
For background’s sake, we would like to state that records are there to show that the country has struggled to export its 280, 000 metric tonnes of maize from the previous season. This scenario has been exacerbated this year by the 2.8 million metric tonnes output our farmers have delivered for the 2009/2010 farming season.
We were not particularly as excited as other misguided government fanatics when agriculture minister went on the podium to celebrate the highest crop harvest in about 22 years.
This record output puts the country in an awkward position, simply for two principal reasons: the country has never been ready to explore export markets for its maize while on the other hand we have produced more than we need.
And today, the Zambia National Farmers Union has called for the re-introduction of the marketing board to oversee the purchase and eventual sale of agricultural commodities.
The farmers’ body has since suggested that millers and grain traders be banned from directly purchasing maize and other agricultural commodities from small-scale farmers as they often buy the crops at below production-cost price.
Jervis Zimba, the president of the farmers union, is today telling us that there is need for the creation of one institution, such as the defunct National Marketing Board (NAMBOARD), that will solely oversee the purchase of maize from farmers in the country.
Zimba who uses Malawi and Zimbabwe as test cases is also saying the deregulation in maize marketing has proved that it can never work to better the lives of poor farmers and mealie-meal consumers.
We sense a lot of desperation in Zimba’s musings and we understand his concern. Zimba is definitely a president in a very difficult situation and this is the situation most of our farmers find themselves in. NAMBOARD remained the buyer of last resort and a government tool for intervening in the market. Producer prices of all controlled agricultural commodities, except maize for which a fixed price was determined, were set as floor prices.
NAMBOARD’s existence was synonymous with tenets of a commandist economy then.
We therefore do not fully support the reintroduction of the NAMBOARD look-like arrangement because we know it will be prone to abuse. We say so because NAMBOARD itself was forced to cease operations because it had a lot of bottlenecks and deficiencies. Our people need to be reminded that President Rupiah Banda once served as chief executive officer of NAMBOARD – a position he was unceremoniously hounded out of by former president Kenneth Kaunda.
We, however, fully agree with Zimba when he calls for a total review of the maize production and marketing system in the country. This should start with the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
There is need to reform the FRA especially with respect to how it deals with small-scale farmers. We know very well that the FRA rarely pays the farmers on time. The FRA has actually become a negative distortion in its own right; failing to provide the level of certainty in revenue streams that farmers desperately need to invest in more maize and other products.
The FRA should be more directly focused on food security, rather than large significant purchases of maize in the market. It might also be good if some food purchases were done through the ZAMACE rather than directly with farmers to reduce price distortions.
This is apparently so because the country has indeed produced more than we can possibly consume in one year.
Export subsidies are indispensable in this case because Zambian maize cannot compete competitively on the international front owing to high production costs.
When the incentives are correct and this country has a fully functioning FRA, farmers will have nothing to fear. More exports, more money in the pockets of rural dwellers to drive growth in other areas.
As we say all this, we are mindful that there is need to develop our maize production sector to make our local produce compete favourably with other efficient producers in the region like Malawi, Zimbabwe and the giant South Africa.
This can be achieved through better investment in education and research.
There is need for adequate investment in infrastructure, especially in rural areas as a way of reducing the cost of doing business.
Access to credit for smallholder farmers is very poor and consequently they continue to year-in-year-out depend on the government subsides embedded in the recently augmented Farm Input Support Programme.
Labels: MAIZE, MARKETING BOARDS, NAMBOARD
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ZNFU urges reintroduction of maize marketing board
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tue 08 June 2010, 08:20 CAT
ZAMBIA National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has called for the reintroduction of the marketing board to oversee the purchase and eventual sale of agricultural commodities.
The farmers body has since suggested that
millers and grain traders be banned from directly purchasing maize and other agricultural commodities from small scale farmers as they often bought the crops at below production cost price.
ZNFU president Jervis Zimba said there was need for the creation of one institution, such as the defunct National Marketing Board (NAMBOARD), that will solely oversee the purchase of maize from farmers in the country.
Zimba explained that the country needed to adopt a system like in Malawi and Zimbabwe where a single institution was responsible for buying all the maize in the country and also executed the marketing functions.
He said the firm to oversee the maize marketing exercise needed to be modeled along the lines of the defunct NAMBOARD. Zimba said the deregulation in maize marketing had proved that it could never work to better the lives of poor farmers and mealie meal consumers.
“What we really need at the moment is to reform the maize marketing sector because it is clear that the market forces of demand and supply have failed to work in this country,” Zimba said.
“This equation of demand and supply has failed to work because not only is it benefiting few people…the millers, while the farmers and the government are both losing out. And the rate at which we are going, the farmers will need an institution like NAMBOARD. A similar arrangement is happening in Malawi and Zimbabwe and in both countries it has proved to be a huge success.”
Formed in 1985, Namboard was the monopoly buyer of maize at prices set by the government and the cooperatives were merely agents.
The establishment of Namboard was based on the belief that centralised agricultural marketing would streamline the operations, while the promotion of cooperative unions was viewed as a way of protecting the peasant farmers from exploitation.
In mid-1989, the government announced the dissolution of Namboard and transfer of its agricultural marketing and related functions to ZCF, including fertilizer importation, maintenance of maize strategic reserves, importation and distribution of empty grain bags, and provision of fumigation services. The main justification for the decision was the further streamlining of the agricultural marketing system by avoiding duplication of responsibilities and double handling.
Zimba said there was need for a strong government insofar as maize marketing was concerned.
“In the absence of very serious government intervention, which normally happen world over, as staple food and if we want to maintain consistence in production, government needs to intervene,” he said.
“We are aware that the millers, grain traders and briefcase buyers do nothing in a surplus situation. All we are saying is that ‘can we have a serious intervention’ by the government. I think we have taken too long to react to these unscrupulous market forces. What we should have done…What we really need to do now is total reform programme for agriculture. We have discovered that this equation of demand and supply does not work in small markets like Zambia. So, the farmers’ call right now is that they are thinking that the only choice we have is revert to the old system of FRA buying the crop and traders and millers should buy from FRA. And then we can start discussing on pre-plant prices…before the farmers grow the crop. The current problem we have now…we need government intervention by buying the crop and exporting it under a subsidy programme.”
Zimba said owing to the dysfunctional maize marketing arrangement in the country, efforts of the government to provide subsidised inputs and fertilizers to farmers were not paying dividends.
“The government provides empowerment to the farmers in pre-planting season,” Zimba said.
“…and at the same time provides them with the necessary inputs but what happens is that when it comes to the marketing time…because the farmers are selling at below-price-production, the government initiative of supporting farmers only accumulates to the briefcase buyers and millers who get the final product at ridiculously low prices.”
Zimba said there was need for the government to lower the cost of production in the country to enable the farm products to become competitive locally and internationally.
“The cost of production in Zambia is too high; therefore in the next budget, he has to address,” said Zimba.
Labels: GRAIN MARKETING BOARD, JERVIS ZIMBA, MAIZE, MARKETING BOARDS, NAMBOARD, ZNFU
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There is need to address challenges in agriculture marketing – Chituwo
Written by Kabanda Chulu
Saturday, September 26, 2009 6:04:41 PM
AGRICULTURE minister Brian Chituwo has said there is need to address challenges facing the marketing of agricultural commodities if the agricultural sector is to make a meaningful contribution to Zambia’s economic development.
During the Agriculture Consultative Forum (ACF) stakeholders’ meeting on the possibility of establishing a Public Private Partnership (PPP) marketing institution for Zambia in Lusaka on Wednesday, Dr Chituwo said the development of the agriculture industry was important to economic growth as well as poverty reduction.
“In this regard, development of a well-functioning agricultural market is seen as a necessary element towards achieving this economic development and marketing of agricultural commodities especially those produced by small-scale farmers has continued to be a challenge to both government and private sector and has probably stifled growth in the sector for a long time now,” Dr Chituwo said.
“Since the dissolution of National Agricultural Marketing (NAMBoard) in 1989 and subsequent transfer of marketing functions particularly for maize to the Zambia Cooperative Federation, agriculture marketing in the country has not been very encouraging.”
He said the establishment of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in 1995 partially responded to the problems created by the lack of an agricultural marketing institution.
“While FRA is intended to purchase designated crops for strategic food reserves, there are still problems in the market with regard to general crop marketing, especially for crops not designated as well as other commodities,” said Dr Chituwo.
“In this regard, I implore all stakeholders to critically analyse the situation and chart the way forward towards creating a PPP marketing institution and I strongly believe that some of the modalities of the dissolved NAMBoard can still find room in the proposed institution set up.”
Labels: ACF, AGRICULTURE, BRIAN CHITUWO, MARKETING, MARKETING BOARDS, NAMBOARD, PPPs
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Govt would not dissolve FRA - Chituwo
February 4, 2009
Parliament heard today that the state has has no immediate plans to dissolve the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and revert to the defunct National Agriculture Marketing Board (NAMBOARD).
Agriculture Minister, Brian Chituwo told Parliament, today, that government has been meeting with the FRA management to discuss important matters to make the agency more effective.
Dr. Chituwo was responding to a question raised by United Party for National Development (UPND) Choma Central Member of Parliament (MP) George Chazangwe who wanted to know whether government has plans to dissolve the FRA and bring back NAMBOARD.
The Agriculture Minister said the FRA has not failed to deliver to the expectations of the people of Zambia adding that for this reason there was no need to dissolve the agency.
He said programmes have been put in place to make sure that FRA does not fail the people of Zambia.
And Dr. Chituwo also said the government had put in place a process to procure as much local maize as possible this year.
He also added that measures are being put in place to empower small scale farmers in the country to eradicate hunger.
Dr. Chituwo said the government does not get refunded by the FRA but continues to subsidize in order to make the agency keep moving and deliver to the people of Zambia.
The Minister has also since encouraged the FRA to consider also purchasing other commodities other than maize to give to millers in the country.
ZANIS/AJN/ENDS/MM
Labels: BRIAN CHITUWO, FRA, GEORGE CHAZANGWE, NAMBOARD
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We won't apologise for our choice
By Editor
Sunday October 12, 2008 [04:00]
When we first started criticising Rupiah Banda and his politics, some people thought we were being unfair. And others said we had judged him too quickly. We hadn’t given him enough chance to prove himself. But this is a man of experience, with a known record. He has been district governor of Lusaka and a minister in the Kaunda government.
He has been chief executive of a parastatal institution – Namboard. And for the last two years, he has been Vice-President of the Republic of Zambia. Why should we not judge him on this record?
We had a similar problem with Frederick Chiluba in 1991. Chiluba complained that before he had even formed his first cabinet, we were already criticising and questioning him. Chiluba and his supporters complained that we were not giving them a chance to prove themselves; we were accused of being in a hurry to judge him.
Any newspaper worth its name is society’s early warning system. We are not in a political contest ourselves. We are not populists.
We are not trying to get elected. We are there to inform the public timely and accurately. And where necessary, we have a duty to remind the public of what it might have forgotten or what unscrupulous people may want it to forget.
Our work does not only end at reporting what is happening today. We are required to research and connect our findings to what is happening today so that our people can reasonably forecast or foresee the future. Any newspaper that is run professionally keeps very well documented archives, not only of its own publications, but of everything that is published in the country.
This is necessary because history, and particularly its mistakes, has a tendency of repeating itself. Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are likely to repeat them.
Rupiah and his sponsors arrived on the presidential political campaign scene on a bandwagon of corruption and intolerance. As a newspaper, we spend vast amounts of resources on collecting information and news of what is happening on the political scene.
Before the public could even understand what was happening, we knew that as soon as Levy Mwanawasa died, a culture of corruption and political intolerance had been unleashed and Rupiah was at its helm. This is why we raised the political alarm bells very early.
We were not disappointed by those who criticised us, those who said we were not giving the man a chance because we understood that they didn’t understand. We did not expect them to understand on the first day what we told them but we still had a duty to tell them. That is a job of a newspaper.
If an unnatural calamity has occurred, a newspaper must not shun reporting it because people won’t understand it. Our job is to report and do so truthfully. What the public does with the information that we give them is for the public.
In all the time that we have run this newspaper, we have guarded jealously our independence, the stewardship role that an independent newspaper like ours plays in helping to create and maintain a more open, accountable and tolerant society.
There are those who don’t like our tone, particularly when we express our opinions in the part of the newspaper that is reserved for our opinions. Some say our tone is shrill, we are too abrasive.
We understand their sensitivity and appreciate their comments. In the same spirit, we expect them to understand us or at least to try. When we see corruption and its near cousin political intolerance and manipulation reemerging in our politics in the way that it seems to be emerging in the Rupiah campaign, we have a sense of urgency to denounce it.
We consider it our duty to raise an alarm. Nobody sane ever raises an alarm in a subdued voice. If you saw fire engulfing your property, you would be insane to politely say ‘fire’ and expect others to understand what you are saying.
The politics that Rupiah represents are so backward, so old that many Zambians have forgotten what we are talking about.
He has never been truly exposed to the rigors of multiparty politics. He is cast in a one-party state mentality where opposing political views is enmity. From his behaviour so far, it seems that there is very little that he will not do in order to maintain his hold on power. If it means bribing, he will bribe. This is the kind of leadership crisis that this country is facing. As an independent newspaper, we believe it is our duty to let the public know what is going on.
It’s very strange that people expect us to spend all our days reporting what is going on round about us without expressing any opinion. Every newspaper, including the state-controlled newspapers, have editorial columns where they express their opinion.
This is the prerogative of editorial staff. Why should The Post be any different? For those that need reminding, this newspaper has not become what it is by being timid or grovelling before those who hold power. Those of us that work here do so voluntarily.
Nobody forced anyone to work at The Post, we know why we are here. We are no one’s praise singers, we have never been and we never will be. We consistently and continually weigh the cost of our actions and are ready to pay the price. When a fight is necessary, we will not shy away.
This forthcoming presidential election is very important. We have seen people who want to reverse the gains we have made as a nation, who want to take us back to an era which we thought we had left, just simply because it benefits them as individuals.
If all that we have left to warn the Zambian people about the dangers that lie ahead is our editorial comment, we will use it.
And if what it takes to warn our people about certain dangers is a shrill voice, we will use it. If warning our people earns us enemies, we will still fight. Even if it loses us friends, we will still fight. Zambia is too important; its people too many to be subordinated to the selfish interests of a small political clique that has taken control of the ruling party.
We are not surprised by attacks that are being directed at us by Rupiah and his sponsors. It is not the first time that a minority political clique has tried to silence the majority through intimidation and threats. When politicians are not working for the public good, they are ready to do anything to get power or maintain their hold on it. They are even ready to sacrifice the very people that they claim they want to serve. This is not a new problem in Africa.
They will use every conceivable scheme to gain or maintain power. This is what frightens us about Rupiah. A man with all the experience that he has in African politics should not play with tribalism or regionalism.
We have seen him go on political platforms and preach tribalism and regionalism. What he said to our brothers and sisters in the Eastern Province should not be taken lightly. If a man can go on a public platform and preach tribalism, what does he say and do in private away from the ears and eyes of the public?
This is why Rupiah was not ashamed or moved by Ben Mwila’s questioning of Michael Sata’s origins at his campaign meeting in Luapula.
The corruption that has engulfed Africa is a dangerous cancer that has consigned many of our brothers and sisters to early graves. It is clear that Rupiah embraces corruption. Any serious-minded politician would have dealt seriously with the embarrassment that engulfed his campaign during the James Lukuku bribery saga. He wants to pretend like it never happened.
His ill-timed visit to the Anti Corruption Commission after Lukuku’s exposure is an ominous sign, a clear demonstration that Rupiah is not going to respect the rule of law. Why should the acting head of state pay a courtesy call on the Anti Corruption Commission when a corruption scandal has erupted in his campaign? This is nothing short of unbridled intimidation and hypocrisy.
Another thing that is frightening about Rupiah is his extravagance in the use of public resources. Rupiah has not demonstrated any sense of thriftiness in the way he has been spending public resources on his presidential campaign. It’s the first time in the history of this country that we are seeing a presidential candidate taking three government aircraft on a campaign trail. The cost of this is not difficult for anyone to guess.
Is this necessary? This is only on aircraft which are visible in the sky, how much more of government resources is he spending on other things that the public cannot easily see? Zambians have experience in dealing with such leaders. Chiluba is still in court answering for such abuses.
And when we called him a thief, there are those who said our tone was too shrill and that we were being disrespectful. If we had listened to their wisdom, where would Zambia be today? What would have happened to Chiluba’s third term agenda?
We all want to live in a good country, with paved roads, good sanitation and other social amenities, but not many are prepared for the sacrifice and fight that is required to achieve this. We have chosen to be amongst those who will fight and we won’t apologise for our choice. This is an agenda we have freely and whole-heartedly opted to endorse.
We challenge Rupiah to talk about his record. For a man who spent so many years in public life, he should have no problems in telling us his achievements at Namboard, Lusaka City Council and his dealings with Angola’s Jonas Savimbi as Zambia’s foreign affairs minister. If he wants to be president, he must be ready to address these issues. Modern day politics are about transparency, accountability, tolerance and an ability to accept public scrutiny.
If saying all these things has created a political crisis for Rupiah, we have no apology. If the ideas we have been expressing have created problems for Rupiah’s campaign, we will never be sorry for that. We say this because – and to borrow from Fidel Castro – ideas never create crises, it is crises that generate ideas.
Labels: NAMBOARD, RUPIAH BANDA
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