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Many soya bean farmers in Zambia are demoralised after the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) backtracked and resolved to buy the crop at K6 per kilogramme (Kg).
Last year, the agency had offered K11.50 per kg for the commodity, and this means that the announced price is more than a 50 percent reduction, which would be a disincentive to farmers.
Because of improved and supportive pricing of the crop, Zambia has seen production more than doubled in the last three seasons to reach the historical high of 411,000 tonnes in 2021.
In interviews with farmers in select parts of the country, farmers told Zambia Monitor, that the government should have just announced a reasonable price even if it did not want to enter the soya beans market.
Read more : govt-recinds-decision-on-soyabeans-directs-food-agency-to-purchase-100000-mt-tonnes-countrywide
“This is devastating, at K6 per kg from K11.50 farmers will lose investments they had put in, the government should have been more considerate, we will be at the mercy of private buyers, who have even started offering less than K5 per kg, we are doomed ,” Mporokoso farmer, Charles Sikazwe, said in an interview on Sunday.
Sikazwe, who produced a record 100 by 50 kg of soya beans, said before investing in growing the crop, the thinking was that the price will be much higher, probably K14 per kg looking at the cost profile.
And, Lufwanyama based farmer, Cholwe Mulambo, who is expected to harvest 200 by 50 kg of soya beans said he regretted growing soya beans.
“This price is a mockery to farmers, the cost of inputs and looking after the crop is very high, the export market is also beyond the reach of most of the farmers because of paper work and transport implications,” Mulambo said.
Meanwhile, Soya Beans Growers Association of Zambia (SBGAZ) president, O’Brien Mwandawamufu, said farmers are in a dilemma.
“The market is not helping matters at all, we will look to the export market although there are a lot of impediments especially transport, small scale farmers cannot mobilise transport to enter into a complicated market like the export market,” Mwandawamufu said in a separate interview.
But, Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF) Director General, James Chirwa, recently played down the issue in a media report.
Read more : farmers-ask-govt-to-rescind-decision-on-purchase-of-soya-beans-fear-exploitation-by-private-buyers
Chirwa said it was not the duty of the government in a liberalised market to set prices of agricultural products.
He said demand, locally and regionally, for soya beans is immense and that the cooperative will endeavour to find a better market for soya beans .
“We will find a market for farmers, so what we are doing is to carry out an assessment to come up with the number of bags in the hands of our members and help them find a good market, no need to panic,” Chirwa said.
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