DON’T COMMERCIALISE FRA, STATE TOLD

THE move by government to commercialise the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will undermine the growth of the agriculture sector in Zambia, the Consumer Unit Trust Society (CUTS) has warned.

CUTS policy analyst, Ishmael Zulu said evidence from marketing boards in Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe showed how a commercial role was incompatible with the function of providing farmers with a social safety net.

Mr Zulu said this when he made a presentation on a research focusing on the agriculture sector.

He said the Kenyan example showed that the social function of maintaining strategic grains and the commercial function of grain marketing and participation in grain markets for profit were contradictory.

Mr Zulu said the situation would create inefficiencies when combined into one institution.

‘‘Based on the evidence from across the region and from Zambia’s own history CUTS therefore, encourages the government to abandon its plans to commercialise the Food Reserve Agency and instead focus on reform efforts that restrict the FRA’s role to manage a national food reserve,’’ Mr Zulu said.

Mr Zulu said in all analysis it was evident that when government parastatal intervened in markets beyond the social role maintaining Strategic Grain Reserves (SGRs) it could cause disruptions and unpredictability in maize markets, which in turn would adversely affect food security.