Partial release of funding irks farmers

THE National Union for Small-Scale Farmers in Zambia (NUSUFZ) says it is disappointed that Govern ment has only released K960 million to pay the farmers who supplied crops to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) despite owing them K1.2 billion.

Government yesterday an nounced that it had released K960 million out of the K1.2 billion owed to the farmers who supplied maize and other crops to FRA.

NUSUFZ Executive Direc tor Ebony Loloji said it is dis appointing that Government could not release the full amount owed to famers de spite the delay to pay them.

Mr Loloji said the government’s decision to only re lease K960 from the K1.2 billion means that not all farmers will be paid their money.

He challenged Govern ment to ensure that the remaining funds are re leased without delay for all farmers to receive the full amounts.

Meanwhile, the Zambia Climate Change Network (ZCCN) has said building resilience in climate miti gation adaptation cannot happen without all com munities being actively in volved in the climate action agenda.

ZCCN Lead Partnerships and Advocacy Programmes Officer Simon Mwamba said building resilience is a huge and important re sponsibility that entails that people from all sectors of the country participate.

Mr Mwamba said being the first responders to cli mate change, the commu nities themselves are key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting adaptation and resilience.

He also said the pri vate sector is working to wards ensuring mitigation against climate change as they use infrastructure that can be destroyed by ex treme weather conditions.