June 1st, 2015 - ZNFU Notes

Excerpts from the ZNFU weekly update (Week 22, 2015)

LUBINDA DISSOLVES ALL AGRICULTURAL BOARDS AND TRUSTS

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Hon. Given Lubinda, on Tuesday 26^th May dissolved all the boards and Trusts under his Ministry in a bid to increase their operational efficiencies.  The boards dissolved include the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ), Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ), Cotton Board of Zambia (CBZ), Zambia Coffee Board (ZCB) and Dairy Development Board (DDB). The In-Service Training Trust (ISTT), Golden Valley Agriculture Research Trust (GART), Livestock Development Trust (LDT) and Cotton Development Trust (CDT) have also been dissolved. All the functions of the boards and trusts will be handled by the two Permanent Secretaries of MAL until new boards and trusts are instituted.

CHISAMBA FARMERS COMMEND ZNFU FOR THE WATER ACT UPDATE

Farmers in Chisamba district have commended the ZNFU for an update on the latest developments being implemented by the Water Resource Management Authority (WARMA). This happened during a special farmers meeting held at Fringilla Club in Chisamba on 28^th May, 2015 to discuss pertinent issues in the agricultural sector. Among the updates given included the fact that WARMA has continued with consultative meetings with farmers on the implementation of the Water Act of 2011, and that farmers active in irrigation are encouraged to voluntarily be part of water users associations as decisions on water use and allocation will start from recommendations of this structure.

The meeting also heard that permit application fees have been proposed for ratification as per the following categories;

• K 500 for permit application to abstract water 365, 000m³ per year,
• K 100 for permit application to abstract water between 12, 000 and 365, 000m³ per year,
• K 1000 for any mining or hydropower permit application and K 100 for any other permits application.

The meeting was also informed that the ZNFU is actively engaging WARMA on some provisions in the Water Act of 2011, such as those which might disadvantage agricultural investments, vis-à-vis change from water user rights to permits.

And during the same meeting, farmers urged the ZNFU to closely monitor developments in the importation of the 75,000mt of wheat which was recently announced by government, so that the importation does not happen at a time when the local wheat is ready for marketing, as this may depress the local prices.

Further to the deliberations during the meeting, the farmers emphasised that the local beef industry should at all cost be protected from imports as the country cannot compete favourably in the region because imported beef is assumed to be highly subsidized and fed on GMO products and growth stimulants.