Zambia: Raises Crop Inputs Subsidies
18 September 2008 Sayifwanda said at a media briefing that the increase was due to the worsening food supply situation, and that it would greatly cushion the farmers from the prevailing high input prices.
Sayifwanda added that the government had also revised structures at district level in the handling of fertilizer purchases and distribution by enhancing district agriculture committees and reviewing their composition and guiding rules. Preparations for procurement and distribution of fertilizer and seed under the fertilizer support program were going well, she said.
The Zambian government has paid 50% of the value of the 80,000 tonnes of fertilizer in order to allow selected suppliers, Omnia Small Scale and Nyiombo Investment, to start and continue distribution of inputs to various districts. Sayifwanda said the government recognized the role the firm Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia, played in the Zambian economy and maintained that there were no plans to privatize the company.
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