By ahon. Heartson Mabeta
Food Reserve agency FRA was established for the purpose of reserves only.
Every year parliament approves a budget for FRA to buy maize for reserve only.
In 2026, Parliament only approved 2.1 billion kwacha for FRA to buy only 500 metric tonnes of maize.
As at 30th September, FRA had bought 2 million metric tonnes of maize with a value of 13.6 billion kwacha 11 billion kwacha above the approved budget by Parliament.
To buy extra maize above what Parliament approved, FRA gets loans from bank while using maize as surety.
Unfortunately , FRA buys maize at 275 dollars per tonne while the international market price for maize is at 230 per tonne hence FRA struggles to sale the extra maize bought by using loans from banks while maize is used as surety.
Total maize production in 2026 is 5 million metric tonnes.
Total maize FRA bought from farmers using using the 2.1 billion kwacha approved by Parliament and loans from banks, 2 million tonnes.
Balance still available with farmers is 3 million tonnes.
Who should buy the 3 million tonnes and what price?