UPND HAS MISMANAGED THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR
…. that is why the country is food insecure, says the Socialist Party
Lusaka… Wednesday December 4, 2024
The opposition Socialist Party (SP) says the UPND government has mismanaged the agriculture sector leading to the country being food insecure.
SP Chief Presidential Advisor Brian Hapunda says up to now, farmers have not received the farming inputs making it difficult for them to produce the much needed food.
He said in some instances, the country has witnessed the supply of sub-standard fertiliser which he said is making it difficult for the small scale farmers to have good yields.
He also claimed that the agriculture sector has been marred with corruption in the supply of the inputs.
“Zambians are hungry today and as such there is no peace in people’s homes. We have seen how the current government has mismanaged the agriculture sector. Today it’s 4th of December, 2024 we traverse this country, we have just returned from Eastern Province where we have witnessed farmers as of yesterday they had not yet received the much needed fertiliser. How then does this government help in terms of coming up with food security? The story is almost the same in all the provinces. Luapula for example, our people are telling us that they have been left out from the FISP, where do you expect these people to mobilize the much needed fertiliser which is at K1000? This shows you how misplaced the UPND’S agriculture policies are and how we keep on having food insecurity in the country because of lack of priority by those in government today,” he said this when he featured on Hot FM Radio in Lusaka today.
“The SP in government will make sure that we invest adequately in the Agriculture sector and that 15% of the national budget come 2026 when we will be in government will go towards the agriculture sector. We will broaden the FISP Programme and bring many small scale farmers on board because we believe that these farmers are the ones who feed this country.”
Mr Hapunda emphasized that the small scale farmers are the ones who produce the much needed millions of metric tonnes of food that the people consume hence the need to take care of them.
“We will prioritize agriculture sector and pay serious attention to this sector and receive the inputs on time. We will give the farmers a fair share of business in order for them to benefit after supplying their produce to the government through the FRA. We will give them a good floor price because we believe in having a food secure country,” he concluded.
SP Media
When did drought become mismanagement? We just need to continue praying to God to give us enough rains this farming season.
Resorting to falsehood when you hv nothing to say
Looking for job. It all nonsense.