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Chama North Member of Parliament, Yotam Mtayachalo, has urged the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to open rice sales depots in the area to provide a market for local farmers who are struggling to sell their produce.
Mtayachalo noted that many farmers in Chisunga, Nkhankha, and Luangwa wards were unable to sell their rice, despite a bumper harvest last season.
“The farmers are also complaining that some private buyers are offering exploitative prices for paddy rice, preventing them from gaining adequate financial returns, especially since rice farming is labor-intensive,” Mtayachalo said in a statement on Wednesday.
He called on the government to urgently establish sales depots in the affected areas, allowing farmers to sell their rice and prepare for the upcoming farming season.
“It does not make economic sense for the country to be importing rice while farmers in Chama lack attractive markets for their produce. The government must support farmers to end poverty in rural areas, as farming is their main economic activity,” he added.
Mtayachalo further emphasized the need for radical measures to help small-scale farmers access lucrative local and export markets to boost household incomes and create jobs in rural communities.
“As long as the country lacks a plan to end the importation of heavily subsidized agricultural products, we will continue to export jobs 60 years after independence, which is unacceptable,” he concluded.
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