SIMON MUNTEMBA writes
THE instant payment system introduced by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) is a welcome development to farmers, says the National Union for Small-Scale Farmers Association of Zambia (NUSFAZ) executive director Frank Kayula.
Dr Kayula said the union was happy that FRA would this year pay farmers as soon as they supplied maize to it.
In an interview Dr Kayula said union members in Northern Province and other parts of Zambia had confirmed receiving their money as soon as they supplied maize to the Agency.
“As a union, we are happy that most of the farmers were paid as soon as they supplied maize. In fact, a lot of farmers do not have maize anymore because they supplied to the Food Reserve Agency and have since been paid their money,” Dr Kayula said.
Dr Kayula urged FRA to continue with the same system, saying through it, the agency would be able to meet its target of buying about 300,000 metric tonnes of maize for food security.
He has also urged government to release more funds to the Agency to allow it procure more maize.
“K74 million that government released to the agency will not be enough for the procurement of maize and the transportation of the commodity to the storage facilities, ” Dr Kayula said.
