Stop selling maize cheaply, farmers told

By SANDRA MACHIMAIT is very sad that farmers in border towns and other areas have started selling maize to neighbouring countries at a very cheap price, the Zambian Agriculture and Rural Development Initiatives (ZARUDI ) has said.ZARUDI executive director, Gilbert Mpanga, said farmers had started selling their maize to neighbouring countries per hectare in field before it was even harvested.This, he said, was a source of worry as the development was a big threat to household and national food security.Mr Mpanga urged farmers not to rush into selling their products to individuals who were exploiting them because the money they realised would not last.“This is unfortunately because they are selling at a cheaper price which will not take them anywhere and this will only leave households with no food for some time,” he said.He cited some of the affected areas a Copperbelt, Eastern and North-West provinces where farmers were selling their maize fields.“We therefore make this humble plea to our beloved farmers not to rush in the sale of maize but wait for Government’s position on this year’s marketing season price,” he said.Mr Mpanga said as much as the association understood the financial hardships during the covid-19 period, it would not be of help for farmers to sell maize cheaply.He has since urged farmers to guard what God had blessed them with, the fact that there would be a bumper harvest.