NO CONTRACT WAS CANCELLED

By Jessica Mwansa

THE Government has refuted claims that contracts awarded to some companies to supply and deliver 120,380.25 metric tonnes of urea fertilizer under the 2023/2024 Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) have been cancelled.

Speaking to The Scoop, Minister of Agriculture Reuben Phiri said the eight suppliers that were contracted had commenced the supply of the input and that none of them had their contracts cancelled.

“The delivery of Urea fertilizer has since started and the claims that the Government has cancelled the contracts of the contractors to supply the input are false. No contract has been cancelled. We are still going ahead with the same contractors,” Mr. Mtolo said.

He said with regards to D Compound, 91 percent of the D compound fertilizer had been delivered to the intended beneficiaries and that only Urea was remaining.

“91 percent of D compound has been delivered and we are now waiting for the Urea distribution to be completed. However, the Government has embarked on FISP reforms with the aim of improving the implementation of the programme and its overall contribution to the development of the sector and the economy at large,” he said.

He said the Comprehensive Agriculture Support Programme (CASP) would guide the agricultural sector going forward and that the reforms would be extended to FISP for the smooth flow of the support program.

“The programme will enhance the targeting of FISP beneficiaries by strengthening beneficiary identification through biometrics,” he said.

He added that the program would also call for measures to reduce malpractices and target the right crops in the right ecological zones among others as well as enhance productivity of crops.