Lower the cost of living, Dr. Bulaya advises Govt

THE United Party for National Development (UPND) administration must realise that the party was voted into office to, among other things, reduce the cost of living and this is not time to change goalposts, Climate Smart Agriculture Expert Dr. Oliver Bulaya has charged.

Speaking to The Scoop, Dr. Oliver Bulaya said as much as farmers needed competitive prices of maize, the solution to this was not merely increasing the price of maize but putting in place measures to help farmers increase production levels by lowering the cost of production.

He said the measures the Government was implementing to boost supply and stabilize the price of mealie meal were inadequate adding that there was a need for the agriculture sector to develop value chains if the country was to fully benefit.

“The Government should have gone a step further by giving incentives to seed companies who form part of the input suppliers to lower the production cost. This would enable farmers to consistently produce and deliver good harvest and the issue of expensive mealie meal would be non-existent. The UPND should remember its manifesto and the promises it made to the farmers.

“The cost of farming inputs should be made affordable to all farmers and the delivery of farming inputs should be worked on so that our farmers receive their inputs on time but all that is given a blind eye by those charged with this responsibility yet the Government expects mealie meal prices to go down,” he lamented.

He said if things were done properly, the country would have enough food for local consumption and exports, stating that the sector had the potential to help grow Zambia’s economy if well handled.

“The agriculture sector has the potential to grow this country’s economy and improve the lives of the citizens if it is well handled and managed but we fear for the sector because all promises are just on paper and not in action,” he said.

He said it became difficult to achieve economic growth in the sector if there was no clear direction and a unified approach being made.

“Our desire is to see practical measures being implemented to lower the cost of living for the Zambian people, particularly through solutions that could reduce the prices of mealie-meal. We therefore urge the Government to quicken the project of farm blocks and other projects as indicated in the 2024 National Budget,” he said.