Maize price fair - FRA
THE Food Reserve Agency (FRA) says it does not expect anyone to cry foul over the maize price pegged at K110 per 50 kilogramme bag for the 2020 crop marketing season.
And the FRA says it is ready to buy one million metric tonnes of maize as directed by President Edgar Lungu. In an interview yesterday after announcing prices for designated agricultural commodities, FRA Executive Director Chola Kafwabulula said they consulted relevant players in the agriculture industry before arriving at the prices.
Mr. Kafwabulula said FRA invited the Ministry of Agriculture, Zambia Cooperative Federation, Small-Scale Farmers Association, and the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) for consultations but only ZNFU did not attend the meeting.
According to the 2020 crop marketing season prices, the FRA will buy white maize at K110 per 50kg bag, soya beans at K150 per 50kg bag, and paddy rice at K70 per 40kg bag.
Mr. Kafwabulula encouraged small-scale farmers to sell their produce to the FRA because it is a government institution tasked with providing national food security. He said this will guarantee food security for home-grown school feeding programmes, vulnerable groups like hospices, the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), and floods and drought victims.
“When you leave maize to the private sector you will not have control over it. Selling maize to the FRA means empowering Zambians with food security. We are a transparent government agency because we ensure that before we start buying, the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency comes to assize our scales.
“Some buyers have scales that are not assized. They pay farmers on time but the farmers make losses because they do not sell the actual weights. The other reason that farmers should sell maize to FRA is that they will help to create jobs like depot clerks and security guards for their own children,” he said.
Mr. Kafwabulula said the FRA will start buying maize as soon as the grain moisture content reaches the prescribed standard of 12.5 percent to ensure long term storage and avoid grain wastage.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kafwabulula said the FRA is ready to buy the one million metric tonnes of maize, as directed by President Lungu, to replenish strategic grain reserves from a dynamic grain market obtaining locally and in the region.