GOVERNMENT has continued to take the nation on a rollercoaster ride when it comes to agriculture.
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Quite clearly, no one appears to know what is going on in the agriculture sector as “directives” are issued everyday that only leaves all and sundry in confusion.
In one moment, the nation is told that there has been a bumper harvest that would normally result in having cheaper mealie meal on the market and in the other, citizens are being told of a moratorium on the export of maize, mealie meal and livestock…without any form of explanation.
When everyone expects transparent trading in the maize sector, Government comes up with another unexpected decision – that it is enforcing temporary restrictions on maize grain and mealie meal until further notice.
No doubt this is likely to disrupt the operations of milling companies as they traverse the countryside looking to buy maize from the farmers.
Strangely however, the government says the movement of maize and mealie meal to the border towns would continue on a case by case basis.
Agriculture Permanent Secretary Green Mbozi said the Food Security Committee on August 2 decided that a temporally restriction on movement of maize grain and mealie meal be immediately put in place.
This is according to a letter addressed to the Zambia National Farmers Union, Millers Association of Zambia, Grain Traders Association of Zambia and National Union for Small-Scale Farmers Association of Zambia from Mr Mbozi.
He said that there would be no inter district stock movement for now until a time that the ministry shall advise.
“This minute, therefore, serves to inform you that there will be no inter district stock movement for now until such a time that the ministry shall advice. However, movements to border towns will still be permitted on a case by case basis,” Mr Mbozi said.
Since Government has not explained the reason for this shift in policy, the nation is left to speculate as to what has really happened.
No wonder that Kantanshi Member of Parliament Anthony Mumba has said Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo Phiri is not being sincere about the country experiencing a bumper harvest when farming inputs were delivered late.
Mr Mumba said this to him was a miracle because all FISP farmers were complaining about the lateness of the inputs.
The more reason why everyone is confused that amidst a bumper harvest, the price of mealie meal is almost beyond the reach of the average Zambian.
As Mr Mumba noted, today the cost of mealie meal was averaging around K315 which was hurting most Zambians.
He said this price told a lot and as though this was not enough, again fertiliser contracts for 2023/ 2024 had been cancelled similar to the last farming season and now with this directive from above with no clear end game being explained.
We believe no farmer wants a repetition of the chaotic distribution of fertiliser and other farming inputs as was experienced in the 2022/23 season when the fertiliser supply and distribution chain was politicised.
The end result was single-sourcing – that did not solve the problem as even those picked failed to deliver as per the contracts signed hence the late delivery and bumper yield.
Mr Mumba said in the past on the floor of Parliament he had questioned the shambolic 2022/ 2023 farming season where the country saw inputs for that farming season being provided as late as January, 2023.
Is another repeat episode about to start?
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