Farmers should be wary about briefcase buyers

Dear Editor,

THE rainy season is now over and farmers are harvesting their produce particularly maize for the 2017/2018 farming season.

The previous rainy season was characterised by drought in some parts of Zambia.

Lusaka Province is one of the provinces which was adversely affected by drought in that it started receiving rains in February this year.

Northern, Luapula, Muchinga and North Western provinces received normal and above normal rainfall.

Given this state of affair in view of the previous rainfall pattern, the country is not expected to record a bumper harvest as the case was in the previous farming season.

The implication of this is that some briefcase buyers will be exploiting farmers by buying their maize at low prices.

This will not be a good business deal considering the fact that our hard working farmers spent a lot of money on farming inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, chemicals to mention but a few.

Zambia, being a liberalised economy, there is need for our farmers to sell the maize at the floor price of the Food Reserve Agency or at the higher price.

To avoid our farmers from being swindled by the briefcase buyers, there is need to sensitise the farmers to be wary about these unscrupulous buyers who are looking forward to a field day by pouncing on unsuspecting farmers selling their produce.

ELEMIYA PHIRI, Lusaka.