FARMERS OWED BY FRA WILL BE PAID AFTER MAIZE EXPORTS TO MALAWI, SAYS MINISTER MTOLO
Minister of Agriculture Reuben Mtolo Phiri has promised to settle all outstanding payments owed to farmers who sold maize to Food Reserve Agency FRA by 31 October once exports funds are secured.
Mr. Phiri after holding high level meeting with a delegation from Malawi the funds would be secured from the proceeds of planned maize exports handled by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
He says government is committed to clearing the debts by the end of October.
The pledge comes amid ongoing concerns from farmers about delayed payments.
He emphasized that the government valued the farmers’ role in maintaining national food security and vowed to improve the payment system in future seasons
The announcement was made during a handover ceremony for Constituency Development Fund (CDF) loans, a separate government initiative.
Meanwhile Chief Mnukwa Mazyopa of Chipangali District has urged the President to remove all individuals who are making the life of farmers difficult stating that playing with farmers is threatening for security of the country.
By Diamond Tv
You don’t make such statements in public. Do your thing quietly. Do you have to wait for another broke country to pay you to pay your famers. This is very bad PR honourable. If you are not a good public speaker limit your speaches.
Such public pronouncements are not good at all. He could have just ended at saying “payments to be done by October fall period ” lest projection becomes a defence mechanism by the farmers towards Malabi.
They shouldn’t have collected our maize knowing they had no capacity to pay for it. They should have allowed farmers to sell to whoever , even across into kasumbalesa
Mtolo Phiri and the likes of him deliberately issue ambiguous statements to escape future failures, or because they are clueless.