The National Union for Small Scale Farmers in Zambia-NUSFAZ says it is surprising to hear government say it will increase the number of fertiliser bags farmers will receive in the 2022/2023 agriculture season from four to six.
Government announced that it has increased the amount of fertiliser bags that farmers will receive under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) in the 2022/2023 agriculture season from four to six bags.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Union Executive Director Ebony Loloji said according to the information that the union has, farmers were receiving six bags of fertilizer last season.
“I thought that in the last season they were giving six and then the report that we are getting is that they are increasing from four to six, they are saying last time they were getting four but from the information that we have, last season the farmers were getting six”, he said.
Loloji has appealed to government to address all the issues surrounding the implementation of FISP adding that the programme has been characterised by many flaws such as ineligible people accessing the inputs.
“Our appeal is that in as much as they are saying they have increased the fertiliser allocation to the beneficiaries, it is also important that all the loopholes are sealed. So that the correct beneficiaries are able to get the correct number of bags which is six bags, three D compound and three top dressing”, he said.
“It has reached an extent where cadres were getting fertilizer, other people would get it and sell it meanwhile the real beneficiaries, people entitled to this programme were walking away with one or two bags which should not be the case”, he said.
He said this would ensure that farmers are empowered adding that they will be in a position to produce more for the country.
