Agric mess to cost HH in August – Sichinga
By Thandizo Banda
GOVERNMENT’S incompetence in the agriculture sector will cost President Hakainde Hichilema politically on August 13, former agriculture minister Bob Sichinga has said.
Sichinga described as unprecedented and embarrassing government’s failure to announce the floor price of the staple maize in mid-July.
Traditionally, the prices of the grain had been announced in May.
“This is a crisis. Farmers want clear answers, not lies. Is it true that government still owes K7 billion to banks for the previous purchase? Is it true that there’re no storage facilities, or maybe they are prioritising the elections?” he said.
The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) said on Monday it could not announce the floor price of maize because the crop’s content moisture wmaizes still too high.
Sichinga said it was unfortunate that journalists and farmers had been kept waiting at the FRA head office for eight hours for the unveiling of the maize price only to be told lies.
“Farmers cannot be fooled by Hichilema’s campaign promise of a good spot-cash [for the maize they will deliver to the agency]. One wonders how HH feels after flying around the country assuring rural dwellers of the opening of the maize market,” he said.
“UPND is incompetent in agriculture. HH is not a farmer as he claims. He has vested interest in animal husbandry eyeing the export market, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Sichinga said.
He blamed poor policies for the current crisis in the critical sector.
Sichinga cited the high cost of seed and fertiliser, late payment to farmers and inadequate storage space as some of the major factors undermining production and marketing.
“Cost of production has gone high. There’re also late payments resulting in poor yields. About 30 per cent of the crop goes to waste because we have no proper storage. We have only 900,000 metric tonnes capacity ,” he said.
Sichinga also accused government of following International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies, which had hurt small-scale farmers and endangered the country’s food security.
Reflecting on his tenure as minister in charge of the sector between 2013 and 2014, he said his administration focused on directly subsidising farmers to guarantee cheap inputs and ready markets, which the United Party for National Development (UPND) had abandoned.
“When I was Minister 2013-2014, we subsidized farmers directly and performed better which pleased the farmers and reduced mealimeal prices,” he said.
He called on government to urgently work out policies that reduce the cost of seed and fertilizer and provide a guaranteed market for farmers.
Sichinga also called for the depoliticisation of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
Economist Noah Kabwita has also weighed in, saying FRA should not be allowed to continue monopolizing floor price determination.
Kabwita argued that a multi-stakeholder panel should be constituted to determine the price, to ensure transparency and protect farmers from political interference.
He warned that failure to address debt, storage and policy failures now will worsen food security and farmer trust ahead of the marketing season.
