‘Most East maize sold to briefcase buyers’

“I am worried that the maize has finished because farmers are selling to briefcase buyers. I doubt FRA will find maize in Eastern Province because most of it has been sold.’’- Chief Mpezeni

PARAMOUNT Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people has warned that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) may not find enough maize to buy in Eastern Province as most of it has been sold to briefcase buyers.

He attributed the unprecedented selling of maize to private buyers due to the low maize price of K110 per 50 kilogrammes of white maize offered by FRA. Chief Mpezeni was speaking at his palace in Chipata when Neria’s Investments Limited general manager, Martin Chaikatisha paid a courtesy call on him. He was worried the situation could lead to food insecurity in the province. “I am worried that the maize has finished because farmers are selling to briefcase buyers. I doubt FRA will find maize in Eastern Province because most of it has been sold. The maize price is lower than what the farmers put in,” he said. And a farmer, Mr Mabvuto Phiri said some farmers were selling their maize to buyers in Malawi because of a better price. “The maize price in Malawi is K160 while here it’s K110, so farmers prefer selling to buyers in Malawi,” Mr Phiri said. Meanwhile, Chief Mpezeni commended government for the timely distribution of fertiliser under the Farmer Input Support programme (FISP) as it contributed to the Province recording a bumper harvest of over 600, 000 metric tonnes of maize in the 2019/2020 farming season. The traditional leader called on Neria’s investments to ensure this year’s inputs are delivered on time for farmers to increase tonnage. “FISP has really been of tremendous help as most farmers cannot manage to buy a bag of fertiliser which is worth about K500. Government cannot give everyone one a bag of the commodity, but it’s best to help farmers especially those in rural areas. “I am happy that Neria’s will deliver the inputs in time, continue with the good job,” he said. Chief Mpezeni advised the Provincial Agriculture Coordinator Alex Chilala to work closely with Neria’s Investments to make sure all areas receive fertiliser without delay. Mr Chaikatisha assured the Paramount Chief that the farmers would access the inputs before the start of the farming season. “I am here to report that we have already started the delivery of fertiliser to all the districts. We will deliver 63,000 metric tonnes of both Urea and D-compound,” he said.