HUNGER LOOMS

Consequently, Mr Zyambo has called on security wings to up their game and ensure that smuggling of maize was curbed.

“The rampant smuggling of Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) produced maize by unscrupulous traders is a threat on national food security despite the bumper harvest the country recorded,” Mr Zyambo has said.

He said in an interview that Government was worried with the rampant smuggling that had rocked the country as some unscrupulous traders were buying maize cheaply that was produced at high cost, from farmers and illegally exporting it into East Africa, through the DRC as an in transit commodity.

Mr Zyambo said because most countries in the East African region did not produce much maize, there was a ready market for the commodity. He said if the rampant smuggling continues, Zambia’s national food security would be under threat despite the bumper harvest that was recorded in the last farming season.

"Unscrupulous traders are buying our maize cheaply from farmers when it was produced at high cost under the Farmer Input Support Programme especially in the northern part of the country and exporting to Tanzania while some maize passes through Democractic Republic of Congo (DRC)," Mr Zyambo said.

He said Government was spending colossal sums of money through FISP and that it was not right for outsiders to come and buy it cheaply and smuggle it out of the country.

Mr Zyambo said the increased smuggling of maize was a threat to the country's food security and that the Ministry of Agriculture was working with security and defence forces under the national food security task force at Cabinet office to curtail the trend.

"A team comprising defence, security and other key stakeholders has been constituted at Cabinet Office to curtail smuggling of maize out of the country," he said.

Mr Zyambo said a lot of efforts are being made to fight smuggling which was rife in North-Western, Copperbelt and Northern part of Zambia.

He said the food security taskforce is in the process of beefing up security in these regions.

Mr Zyambo has attributed the rampant illegal export of maize to increasing demand from the neighbouring countries including, Zimbabwe, Congo DR and East Africa.

Mr Zyambo said Government is concerned with the country's food security and would want the Food Reserve Agency to buy maize as quickly as possible to secure national food security.

He said it would be very embarrassing for the country to experience hunger when it had recorded bumper harvest.

And Mr Zyambo said Government is not arm twisting farmers because they are selling to FRA of their own free will because it was paying cash.

He said claims that Government is arm twisting farmers to sell their maize to FRA with threats that farmers selling their maize to briefcase buyers will be blacklisted from FISP are not true.

Mr Zyambo said FRA has so far bought 168, 000 of white maize as of Friday last week.

Mr Zyambo said the ministry has urged FRA to spread themselves widely so that they can buy more in the shortest possible time especially in view of widespread smuggling taking place.