Chongwe District Farmers Association (DFA) has called for establishment of maize depots in some remote part of the district to reduce the distance which farmers are covering to bring their maize for sale to existing Food Reserve Agency (FRA) depots during this year’s maize buying season.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS, DFA Chairperson Charles Matolokoshi said the association acknowledges that a number of villages in the area are located very far from the FRA depots which have been allocated for them to take their maize for sale.
Mr. Matolokoshi noted that this entails that farmers residing in such communities have to source for funds to pay for the transportation of maize to the depots.
He added that some small scale farmers especially those in remote parts of the district such as Katoba and Njolwe Wards may not have enough money to cater for transport costs required for them to transport their maize to depots.
Mr. Matolokoshi assured farmers in the area that the association will engage the government authorities in the district to identify sheds in affected remote areas to establish new depots to reduce the distance covered by farmers.
“We will engage the District Commissioner’s office and FRA to set up some depots in the areas which are remote. It is not too late to set up the depots in such areas provided that they have a shed which can be used for such purposes,” Mr. Matolokoshi said.
He also disclosed that FRA depots in the district have been receiving overwhelming numbers of farmers who are bringing their maize for shelling and weighing to enable them to package for sale to the agency.
Mr. Matolokoshi however indicated that the positive response from farmers in the area has resulted in congestion at the depots.
“Our farmers have turned up in large numbers to bring their maize for sale at our various FRA depots in the district and we are happy with this positive response as an association. However, most depots are congested as the number of farmers coming to the depots is high,” Mr. Matolokoshi said.
He urged Community Agriculture Committees to start allocating days to farmers from agriculture camps when they should bring their maize to the depots to address the challenge of congestion at the depots.
Mr. Matolokoshi encouraged farmers in the area to ensure that they don’t delay in selling their maize to FRA.
He further implored farmers in the district to also leave some maize for consumption to avoid hunger in their respective households.
