Thu, 22 Jun 2017 09:20:01 +0000
By Andrew Mukoma
LIVINGSTONE and Kazungula districts are expected to contribute approximately 4,500 of metric tonnes of maize for this year’s national crop requirement.
Acting District Commissioner James Zimba said Government has provided the needed resources to procure the national target quantities for this year.
Mr. Zimba said that the national target quantities for this year is 500,000 metric tonnes of maize and 2,100 metric tonnes of rice.
He was speaking during the official opening of the two days Food Reserve Agency (FRA) training and induction workshop for 28 FRA buyers for Livingstone and Kazungula districts in Livingstone on Tuesday.
Mr. Zimba said the meeting was aimed at equipping FRA buyers with tools for managing crop marketing affairs in the 2017-2018 crop marketing season.
He called on buyers to desist from any form of fraudulent activities such as what has been happening in the past marketing seasons.
“Desist from any fraudulent activities. We shall not take it lightly. Any officer found wanting shall be dealt with by the law enforcement agencies,” he said
He said the success of the marketing season depends on buyers.
Mr Zimba said the province and the country as a whole has recorded a bumper harvest but warned that be meaningless if there were illegalities in the purchasing processes.
He also said government was aware of the constraints that FRA and other players in the maize marketing were facing.
“Problems such as adequate storage facilities in the districts and poor state of some feeder roads and bridges are already receiving attention. I implore you to quickly purchase the maize before the onset of rains to avoid any hindrances that comes with the rain season,” he said
And speaking earlier, Southern province marketing coordinator Lundu Sichala said the training was held so that the mistakes in crop purchasing process are minimised as well as meet the targets that FRA intends had set.
