Stakeholders describe FRA’s maize price as a mockery to farmers

Opposition Leadership Movement Media Director Tatila Tatila says the maize price the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has announced is a mockery to small scale farmers.

The Food Reserve Agency [FRA] has announced that it will buy white maize at the price of one hundred and 60 kwacha per fifty-kilogram bag an increase of ten kwacha from last year’s price.

But Mr. Tatila says the prices for both the white maize which has been pegged at k160 and soya beans which has been pegged at k550 prices are too low especially that not all farmers are beneficiaries of the famer input support programme.

Mr. Tatila says the leadership movement expected government to announce better and fair prices as a way of empowering farmers.

He says the new dawn administration would have done better considering that the head of state is a farmer who promised farmers a lot before and after campaigns.

And Chipata District Farmer’s Association Coordinator Vigil Malambo says the 10 kwacha increment does not have any impact on the farmers.

Meanwhile Millers Association of Zambia President, Andrew Chintala has welcomed the just announced Food Reserve Agency maize purchasing price for 2022 marketing season

Mr. Chintala thinks that the FRA maize price is very fair to farmers considering the outcry in terms of the cost of production for maize in the last farming season as a result of the high cost of farming inputs.