The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has asked government to scale up the budgetary allocation to the agency.
FRA Provincial Marketing Coordinator Sunday Mwelwa says an increase in the budgetary allocation to the agency would facilitate the purchase of more maize from farmers in a bid to ensure national food security.
Mr. Mwelwa noted that failure to increase the allocation would adversely affect farmers in rural areas where the involvement of the private sector is minimal.
He was speaking when he made a presentation at the closure of a two-day second quarter meeting of the Lusaka Provincial Development Coordinating Committee (PDCC) in Lusaka today.
And PDCC Chairperson Elijah Chisanga expressed concern at the decision by FRA to reduce the number satellite depots at district level.
Mr. Chisanga said the move would disadvantage peasant farmers who would incur huge transport costs to ferry their produce to markets.
[ZANIS]
I think the best I can do for my nation is to set up a rival for the FRA… Almighty please help me.
FRA has problems because it has put money first for themselves. The President complained about the FRA in the manner way managing the resources. The minister of finance was equally unhappy about its performance that why he referred all the queries to the minister of agriculture and co-operatives. The auditor’s report has revealed alot of anomalies in the manner the finance is managed. Even if Chilala tried to defend it because of being the board chairman, to me it never made any sense at all. How do they give themselves heft salaries at the expense of the farmers. When farmers were asking for an increase in the price of maize they were always getting -ve responses.FRA refund empty bags.
This business of FRA buying maize every year is wasteful and costly to tax payers. If they are not able to use recoveries from the sale of previous year’s maize to buy the current harvest, then they are wasting resources. We need investment in infrastructure including roads which those poor farmers need, to get to the markets. The danger is that, if for any reason we fail to find money for FRA, the same farmers will suffer because FRA will have left no roads for them to get to the markets. So, we are not doing the correct thing!
Govt should revisit the activities of FRA. Is it viable? The govt is putting money in a bottomless pit.
ask chilala where 23billion is
Anti Corruption Commission,I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to investigate and prosecute those in FRA with mis-management activities! They can’t ask for some more when they haven’t even given the farmers they owe money for the previous season.ba kabwansekete eeh!Bushe ACC epowaaba? wake up!LPM is calling you in France to report criminal cases.