Pay farmers ZCF reminds govt

The Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF) has appealed to government to quickly pay farmer for the maize they supplied to Food Reserve Agency considering that time is running out for them to prepare for the farming season.

ZCF Executive Director James Chirwa has told Qfm News in an interview that it is unfortunate that some farmers have resorted to demonstrating over delayed payments by the Food Reserve Agency.

Mr. Chirwa notes that the issue of delayed payments to farmers who supplied maize to FRA is beyond the FRA board, but that it is the core responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.

He says there is need for government through the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture to ensure that they effectively empower FRA in order to put an end to challenges such as delayed payment of farmers.

He adds that with the onset of the rains, most farmers will not have enough time to plan for this farming season, adding that they cannot completely rely on the Farmers Support Input Programme (FISP).

Mr. Chirwa has since advised government to ensure that it settles all the money owed to farmers for the farmers to prepare well for the coming season.