Muchinga PS orders FISP database update

Muchinga Province Permanent Secretary Tuesday Bwalya has directed Senior Management Officers in the Ministry of Agriculture in the Province to update the database for the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). Dr Bwalya said the database must be cleaned up and updated, adding…

Muchinga Province Permanent Secretary Tuesday Bwalya has directed Senior Management Officers in the Ministry of Agriculture in the Province to update the database for the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).

Dr Bwalya said the database must be cleaned up and updated, adding that deceased beneficiaries should be removed from the FISP database to pave the way for new beneficiaries to be enrolled on the programme.

 He also bemoaned that for many years the same beneficiaries have been receiving farming inputs from the programme, with some families having more than five to ten people benefiting, a thing that disadvantages others who end up sharing fertilizer inputs in gallons.

The Permanent Secretary alleged that some beneficiaries from a single household get several packs, a thing which has made FISP distribution not to be fair, because some Camp Agriculture Committee members in charge of recruiting beneficiaries only recruit their relatives.

Dr Bwalya charged that where evidence is provided committees involved in illegalities should be dissolved and that the database should be normalised.

“Am not saying that we remove those families completely, but that the database should be screened, cleaned up and updated,” he noted

The Permanent Secretary has advised the Ministry of Agriculture to work hand in hand with hospitals across the Province to identify land for agricultural production.

He said if Hospitals are able to produce their own food to feed patients the cost of running hospitals will be reduced, unlike buying literally everything.

Dr Bwalya further urged the Ministry of Agriculture in the Province to extend support to Schools especially Schools that are implementing the Presidential Irrigation Initiative.