Northern Province Permanent Secretary, Bernard Mpundu, has called on farmers in the province not to panic when selling their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), assuring them that government will purchase all the maize.
Mr. Mpundu made the remarks during a spot check of satellite depots in Mungwi and Kasama districts.
He acknowledged the challenges currently being faced in some depots, such as inadequate marketing requisites and insufficient number of depots across the province, however, he assured farmers that these issues are being addressed.
“To help decongest existing depots and accommodate more farmers, 15 satellite depots were opened last week, and an additional 32 are scheduled to open soon,” said Mr. Mpundu in a statement issued to RCV News in Lusaka today, by Northern Province Principal Public Relations Officer, Sandra Mulenga.
The Permanent Secretary also urged the agency to give priority to farmers under the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP), noting that these farmers are directly bonded to government assistance.
He further warned against corrupt practices in the maize marketing process emphasizing that no farmer should be required to bribe any officer in order to be served.
By Christabel Kamunu
