FRA must disclose price of 540k MT maize export to Kenya to avoid suspicions – NASFA

National Association of Smallholder Farmers-NASFA has urged […]

National Association of Smallholder Farmers-NASFA has urged the Food Reserve Agency-FRA to disclose the price at which the 540,000 metric tonnes of maize is being exported to Kenya.

Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, NASFA Executive Director, Dr. Frank Kayula said transparency on the export price is important because FRA is a public institution handling farmers’ produce.

Dr. Kayula indicated that publishing the price would help avoid unnecessary insinuations surrounding the maize export deal.

“We expect that when they sell, they don’t just tell us the numbers in terms of tonnage that has been sold, but also at what price, then we know whether our maize is fetching a good price,” he said.

Dr. Kayula added that knowing the price could also give farmers an indication of the value of their produce and motivate them to increase production.

NASFA Executive Director said FRA’s immediate priority should also be to generate money from the export so that farmers can be paid and the Agency can continue buying maize still in the fields.

“Our main concern is that the selling takes place so that FRA raises more money to pay the farmers as well as to ensure that they purchase the crop that is still in the field,” he said.

Dr. Kayula explained that there is no need for the public to speculate about the export price when FRA could simply make the information available.

“It is prudent that they don’t ignore or forget announcing the price as well, because FRA being a public institution should just be transparent enough,” he said.

Article by Philip Sinkala