The Zambia Ministry of Finance has released ZMW 60 million to purchase overstock of Zambia maize from farmers.
According to the Zambia Agriculture Minister, Wylbur Simuusa, who spoke recently with the Post Zambia, the government has begun talks with UN aid agencies to sell a portion of the country’s carry-over maize stock from last year.
To this end, Hon. Simuusa announced that the government, via the Zambia Food Reserve Agency (FRA), was prepared to purchase 500,000 metric tons of maize from small-scale farmers for strategic reserves with payments to be made within two weeks.
In his interview with the Post Zambia, Hon. Simuusa indicated that the FRA was currently scouting areas where the maize moisture content had fallen to 12.5%.
The Agriculture Minister indicated that the government is hoping to sell the carry-over maize stock to the regional markets as quickly as possible in order to be adequately prepared for the arrival of the new stock.
Zambia maize production is forecasted to produce more than 3.3 million tons throughout the 2013/2014 season, which represents a significant increase from the 2.5 million tons that were produced during the 2012/2013.
