Tue, 01 Aug 2017 14:34:24 +0000 THE disarray prevailing in grain marketing must be arrested expeditiously to prevent imminent calamity. In this regard, we fully support the proposal for a high level indaba between the Zambian National Farmers Union and Food Reserve Agency to sort out the pricing and logistical nightmare that has developed. We wish to go further and suggest that all cooperative unions must be invited to this meeting to chart a course in which an orderly, rational and well planned marketing programme covering all producers can be formulated to leave very little to chance or indeed individual greed and caprice. The 500,000 metric tonnes restriction on the quantity that the Food Reserve Agency will purchase creates a very serious bottleneck in the management of the huge 3.6 million tonnes of maize which theoretically are in the hands of peasant farmers. The offtake leaves a whopping 3.1 million tonnes which must be collected, […]
