New Maize Price Damaging To Farmers - CTPD

The Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) has announced its concern over the Food Reserve Agency’s (FRA) new maize prices, saying it is not cost-effective and could end up damaging farmers’ livelihoods. 

CTPD senior researcher Dr Simon Manda has said the new floor price of K110 per 50kg bag will not help stimulate real growth and will in fact erode opportunities meant to improve rural income and reduce poverty. 

“CTPD advised that if care is not exercised, the country risks failing to produce a stream of empowered rural producers capable of commercializing and even transitioning into diversified economic and livelihood avenues”, he said.

In addition, Dr Manda observed that the low prices will have a knock on effect of forcing private actors to cut prices even further, particularly as the FRA has a history of late payments to farmers. 

With Zambia’s external debt currently standing at 11.2 billion US dollars, the CTPD is now even more worried about late payments by the FRA as it attempts to build its strategic reserves. In the past sellers have had to wait as long as 5 to 6 months to receive payment from the government. 

Dr Manda has advised that Zambia imitate successful initiatives to stimulate the private sector as seen in Tanzania, limiting the extent of state intervention in the grain market. 

In the meantime, The CTPD has called on the government to allocate some of its ten billion Kwacha Covid-19 stimulus package to grain procurement by the FRA, ensuring that farmers receive their payments on time. 

Dr Manda said this will go a long way to protecting small scale producers from the present economic hardship Zambia is facing.