Chief Singani of southern province has appealed to the Food reserve agency to reconsider its decision to restrict the buying of maize to only 153 bags from each pleasant farmer.
Chief Singani told QFM news in Choma that farmer in his area has produced a lot of maize adding that restricting them to only selling 153 bags of maize FRA will result in the loss of the grain.
Chief Singani has feared that the briefcase buyers will take advantage the government%u2019s limit on the number OF BAGS that each farmer is supposed to supply to exploit them.
The traditional leader has also called on the government to ensure that enough FRA selling points are set up in the villages.
He adds that long distances that the farmers have to cover to reach the nearest selling point of FRA are subjecting to high transportation costs .
Meanwhile, National Programme on Health and Social Education (PHASE) has observed that the move by the FRA to only buy 153 bags of maize from each farmer will not add any value to broadening the revenue base for the farmers in the country.
Phase chairperson Thomas Mtonga in a statement to QFM news adds that this will also work against the government%u2019s effort of trying to reduce rural poverty.
Mr. Mtonga has said the FRA's decision limit the
number of bags of maize that it will buy from farmers is most likely to cause a decline in the country%u2019s strategic reserves.
He adds that such a scenario would also result in increased food prices.
Mr. Mtonga has since appealed to President Michael Sata to intervene in the matter and ensure that farmers begin to benefit from their hard labor.
