Government through the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) today held a stakeholders training to re-orient staff and stakeholders on the implementation of the programme before it is rolled out in the district.
Samfya District Agricultural Coordinator (DACO) David Kandala welcomed the participants and emphasised the need for effectively implementing the programme in the district.
The DACO further reiterated the need for coordinated efforts between the Ministry of Agriculture and stakeholders who will be helping in the implementation of the programme.
And Hendricks Kabwe from Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) said the E-Voucher system will eliminate alleged abuse by agriculture extension staff as the system is electronic therefore officers will not be directly involved in distributing inputs.
Mr Kabwe said there have been concerns in the past by beneficiaries of officers manipulating the FISP programme to acquire fertiliser but the E-Voucher system which is an alternative way of providing subsidies to beneficiaries by electronic means will remove such incidents as the system works in such a way that only intended beneficiaries’ access the inputs.
Meanwhile Kennedy Mulenga from the Department of Agribusiness and Marketing said the programme will be beneficial to farmers in that the E-Voucher system of FISP enables farmers to access a wide range of inputs as opposed to the old system of FISP were inputs were only limited to fertiliser.
He also said the programme reduces government expenditure as it removes transportation costs that were being previously incurred by government in fertiliser distribution in the past.
During the 2015/2016 agricultural season the Ministry of Agriculture commenced the implementation of the Electronic Voucher System in 13 pilot districts to provide farming input subsidies to 241,000 smallholder farmers.
The 13 pilot districts included Chibombo, Chongwe, Kalomo, Choma, Monze, Mazabuka, Mumbwa, Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi, Ndola, Chikankata, Chisamba and Pemba.
By Jonas Miselo
NAIS Samfya.
Has ZNFU cleaned up? This e-voucher story has going on for years…what you waiting for? The Chinese…..
Okay, so the abuse is pointed at government officers and does not include recipients! The e-voucher is copied from elsewhere its not something that should be touted as a solution to FISP abuse for the human mind is complex! The question that goes begging in all government initiated interventions is who the architect is? In the first place the small scale farmers in raising the challenge of inputs into farming neither asked government to give it for free nor did any farmer regard themselves as vulnerable!
@FuManchu. The this abuse works is like this : Area X receives YK bags of in put. The officer in charge will distribute only WK bags and take YK-WK bags to private shops for sale at commercial price. I am in charge of a union and on several occasions have been approached by government officials to “cooperate as above. I have resisted and as a result our union is being victimized.
Upto now seed and fertiliser not yet distributed. We are getting tired of inconsistencies coz when will farmers plant and for how long are we going to continue defending this. Just wondering why Lubinda was removed coz last year things were smooth. Awe this my party its getting out of hand
Very unfortunate statement. ZNFU just say you have no capacity to operate this scheme period!!!!!!
You are wasting time, we are still waiting for last seasons activations, new card creation but you want to divert attention by useless accusations
ZNFU you are just exited because you are beneficiaries otherwise it is a total mess, you and your government have no plans. So up until now the is no activity that is worthy noting. In my area maize has grown up to my needs but not seed and no fertilizer so when there is poor harvest you will be blaming God. Have you checked the beneficiaries list proved are not gost farmers? Don’t behave as though you are not educated, oh sorry Zambian education ends at been academic and on paper and learners are taught what to think and speak I see!