By Scoop Reporter
THE Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) has appealed to farm produce off-takers such as the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to offer farmers economically-sound prices for their commodities.
ZNFU president Jervis Zimba says the 2020/2021 season is just a few months away and that giving farmers a good price for their produce will help them reinvest and adequately prepare for the coming season.
“We urge our farmers to now focus on the marketing aspects. We would like to urge all the off-takers especially the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to pay an economic price to the farmers and to pay the farmers on time.
“We are five months away from the 2020/2021 farming season and we do recognise that the input costs have increased due to various factors. It is only by paying farmers an economic price for the maize that we can expect them to reinvest for the coming season,” Mr. Zimba said.
And Mr. Zimba has praised the farmers for rising to the occasion and ensure that the country is food secure by recording a bumper harvest despite challenges they faced in the previous farming season, ranging from input distribution to and uneven distribution of the rain.
He says the Union recognises the challenges the farmers went through last season but that this notwithstanding, they rose against adversity.
“The Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) would like to thank most sincerely all farmers, the small scale, emergent and large scale for producing 3,387,469 metric tonnes of maize to make Zambia food secure.
“We do recognise the challenges the farmers went through last season i.e. the high cost of inputs and the uneven distribution of rain. This notwithstanding, you rose against adversity. Once again well-done to the farmers of Zambia,” he said.
