UPND’s Moono Mapani wants a profitable 2019-2020 floor maize price

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By Kwilanzi News Zambia

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) for Rural Reconstruction and Development Chairman Moono Mapani is demanding for high maize price for the 2019-2020 Marketing Season to protect Zambian peasant and commercial farmers.

And Mr. Mapani has told Kwilanzi News Zambia in an interview in Lusaka that the Hakainde Hichilema led UPND expects the Zambian Government to take into account the socio-economic challenges faced the agricultural sector before arriving at the grain floor price.

As the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) pegs agriculture as a spring board for a diversified economy and employment creation, Mr, Mapani advised the Zambian Government through agriculture Minister Michael Katambo to timely announce favourable floor maize price now so that farmers can plan in good time for the 2020/2021 farming season.

The 7th National Development Plan (2017-2021) (7NDP) builds on the Revised Sixth National Development Plan(2013-2016).

The new plan represents the Government’s first concerted effort to move away from sectoral-based planning towards an integrated and multi-sectoral approach, that embeds and encapsulates SDGs and their indicators.

The broad theme of the plan is “accelerating development efforts towards Vision 2030 without leaving anyone behind” with the primary goal of “creating a diversified and resilient economy for sustained growth and socio-economic transformation, driven by, among other things, by agriculture.”

Using an integrated approach, the 7NDP has domesticated the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) African Union Agenda 2063, as well as the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan and is masterminded by National Planning Minister, Mr. Alexander Chiteme.

There are 5 pillars or strategic development areas contained within the plan including: (1) -Economic diversification & job creation (2) -Poverty & vulnerability reduction, (3)[- Reducing developmental inequalities, (4)- Enhancing human development and (5)- Creating a conducive governance environment for a diversified economy

Fearing sale of grain harvests private buyers known as briefcase business persons defrauding farmers on their hard earned grain, with ridiculous pricing, Mr. Mapani implored the Zambian Government to offer appropriate floor price of maize that will incentivize peasant farmers.

In the 2018/2019 Farming Season, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) Board Chairperson, Joe Simachela pegged K110 per 50 kilogramme bag of white maize, during the alluded to crop marketing season.

Simachela said the Food Reserve Agency had fixed the price for a 50 kilogramme bag of soya beans at K150 and 40 kilogramme bag of paddy rice at K70 and expected to purchase the larger share of the 2, 0004, 389 metric tonnes of maize commensurate to commercial pricing and subsidy beneficiaries of the government Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).

According to Mr. Simachela the crop purchase was to commences on July 5^th2019 till October 31, 2019, stressing that Statutory Instrument SI No. 93 of 2015, eight designated commodities white maize, orange maize, rice, sorghum, sunflower, groundnuts, soya beans and beans would be purchased.

The FRA estimated to purchase 300,000 metric tonnes of white maize, 4,000 metric tonnes of soya beans and 1,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice.