FAKE FERTILISER FLOODS MARKET
By GIDEON NYENDWA
SMALL-SCALE farmers have appealed to the government to come up with ways to protect farmers against unscrupulous people who are supplying fake fertilisers by claiming that they were supplying cheap fertilisers and farming inputs as promised by the UPND during campaigns.
Small-Scale Farmers Development Agency (SAFADA) Executive Director, Boyd Moobwe said the government should come up with measures that will protect the famers from buying fake fertilisers all in the name of getting the commodity at a cheap price.
Mr. Moobwe said some unscrupulous people are supplying fake fertiliser to small-scale farmers taking advantage of the campaign promise made by the UPND.
“Information is there that some people are selling fake fertiliser at K500 in the name of supplying cheap fertiliser as per government promise,” he said. He said farmers were desperate to buy cheap fertiliser and farming inputs because that was what they were promised if they voted UPND into government.
Mr. Moobwe said the government should scrutinise the market, the agro dealers involved in supplying these farming inputs because there will be a lot of fake fertiliser involved in the process of accessing the cheap things they promised. “Farmers will be rushing for cheap things which are not going to be effective at the end of the day,” he said.
He said Government should take proper information of who the genuine suppliers are and the prices at which they are selling their inputs so that the farmers out there know who they are dealing with.
“We need protection as farmers by being given the correct information,” he said.
Mr. Moobwe also said the farmers are hopeful that the 2012- 2022 budget will address most of the things the farmers were promised during the campaign by the UPND.
“We are expectant as famers to buy cheap farming inputs this farming season,” he said.
