Hon. Kanungwe Kanyanmina Raises Concern Over Unsold Maize In Lwitikila

By Pauline Ngozoh

Lwitikila Member of Parliament, Hon. Kanungwe C. Kanyanyamina, raised a matter of urgent public importance in Parliament regarding the failure by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to purchase maize from farmers in her constituency.

Ms. Kanyanyamina told Parliament that a significant number of farmers had taken their maize to designated satellite depots following Government guidance that all farmers under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) were required to sell to FRA. She said the farmers were informed that failure to do so would result in removal from the programme.

She informed the House that despite complying, the farmers' maize had not been weighed because FRA had run out of sacks. She said the farmers were now in a difficult position, with no resources to transport the maize back home and no alternative buyers available as the rainy season approaches.

In his response, the Acting Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, MP, stated that the maize marketing season had closed and that FRA was no longer in a position to buy more maize. The Minister explained that Government's target had been communicated and that the closure had been announced.

He further stated that the experience was a lesson for Zambia as a surplus-producing nation. He said Government's role in maize purchasing would eventually reduce, and noted that just as the country exports copper which it produces in excess, it must begin to build capacity to export agricultural commodities such as maize, beans and beef.

Hon. Kanyanyamina's intervention was widely noted as a mature and professional representation that brought the human impact of national agricultural policy decisions to the fore.