World Bank plan on FISP will cause poverty - ZNFU

By CHITE MTONGA LIMITING the Farmers Input Support Programme (FISP) to three years as suggested by the World Bank will only relegate poor small-scale farmers to complete starvation, Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) president Jervis Zimba has warned.

Mr. Zimba said that limiting FISP to three years would cause starvation among the small-scale farmers who entirely depended on the programme for inputs.

He said that FISP was meant to assist small-scale farmers who did not have collateral to access subsidised inputs of which produce was mainly for consumption.

Mr. Zimba explained that commercial farmers on a yearly basis borrowed from banks and other lending institutions to support their crop production unlike smallscale famers who lacked the capacity to do so.

“What should be understood is that FISP is support given to small-scale farmers who do not have collateral to borrow from banks and other lending institutions, and their produce is mainly for consumption they do not have the means to enhance their production base,

“Our commercial farmers can get money from banks almost on a yearly basis because they have collateral, but if we say FISP should only be for three years it means small-scale farmers under the programme will starve in the following year,” he said.

Mr. Zimba said that farmers under the programme received inputs at a subsidised amount and most of them only cultivated a quarter of a hectare which was primarily for family consumption.

He also said that farmers under the FISP programme performed much better than those under the E-voucher system in terms of productivity.

He said the World Bank did not have a clear understanding of things on the ground and should make an effort to meet with ZNFU for clarification on issues affecting farmers so that they advised the government from an informed position.