Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) has commended government for increasing the amount allocated towards the Agriculture sector in the 2025 National Budget.
Among the notable increases made in the Agriculture sector is the Farmer Input Support Programme at K9.3B targeting over 1 million farmers, allocation for strategic food reserve at K2.4B and the increase in CDF among others.
ZNFU President, Jervis Zimba, commended government for prioritizing resources towards national programmes which he said stand to benefit a majority of farmers countrywide.
Mr. Zimba however appealed to government to revisit certain aspects such as the E-voucher system, which he said has not been not been working very well for farmers, even as they announced that FISP will be 100% E-voucher in 2025.
“E-voucher system has not been working well in practice and farmers have misgivings that all the challenges will be addressed by next year,” said Mr. Zimba in a statement issued in Lusaka.
And Mr. Zimba said the farming community is elated that feeder roads will be prioritized because farmers have been yearning for well maintained and motorable feeder roads for a long time.
He said the Union also recognizes that CDF funding is creating new business opportunities and linkages in the districts countrywide, hence local councils should become more creative in their resource mobilization efforts and stop relying on agriculture levies.
By Eva Hatontola
