WHY FAILURE TO PAY FARMERS BY 13 NOVEMBER COULD BECOME A NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL DISASTER: 3 DAYS IS 3 DAYS
Zambia is approaching a perilous juncture in its agricultural calendar. Farmers who delivered their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) are entering another planting season without the proceeds of their labour. With the onset of the rains, every day of delayed payment erodes their capacity to procure seed, fertiliser, prepare their fields and mobilise agricultural labour. The planting season obeys the dictates of nature, not the convenience of government bureaucracy.
The implications extend far beyond individual farming households. Delayed planting, reduced hectarage and inadequate agricultural inputs could diminish the 2027 harvest, undermine national food security and aggravate inflationary pressures. The cost of living will undoubtedly be higher in 2027. Rural commerce is equally imperilled. Transporters, traders, agricultural workers and input suppliers depend on the circulation of farmers’ earnings. Withholding these payments effectively immobilises productive capital throughout the rural economy.
More alarming are regional seasonal climate forecasts indicating an elevated risk of below normal rainfall in parts of the region during the 2026/2027 growing season. This climatic uncertainty magnifies the urgency of timely planting and adequate agricultural financing. Zambia cannot afford the convergence of two potentially destructive forces, namely, financially incapacitated farmers and unfavourable rainfall conditions. The resulting agricultural losses could reverberate throughout the national economy long after the current planting season.
I therefore insist that by all means legally possible 13 November 2026 be an emergency deadline for settling outstanding FRA payments. The Government must mobilise the requisite resources and expedite disbursements without further administrative procrastination. Farmers have already surrendered their produce to FRA. Their entitlement to payment is an outstanding financial obligation, and its settlement is indispensable to the continuity of agricultural production.
The maize has been harvested. The FRA has received it. The farmers have fulfilled their obligations. The government must now honour its own. A nation that financially debilitates its food producers imperils its next harvest and mortgages its future food security. The 10 million metric tonnes maize annual harvest target would be far fetched at the rate things are going right now.
Saviour Chishimba
President
United Progressive People (UPP)