HH promises early maize floor price

United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema says his party will ensure that farmers are made aware of the maize market price before the marketing season in order for them to plan properly.

Speaking on Feel free radio station on a programme dubbed big issue, in Chipata today, Mr Hichilema said crop prices will be announced ahead of the farming season so that farmers are able to plan properly when to plant

major cash crops such as cotton and groundnuts.

He noted that farmers face numerous challenges because they only know the market price after they have invested money into the production of the crops until government announces and in most cases only for maize .

The UPND leader stated that farmers find it difficult to recover their cost of production because in most cases the market prices are below the cost of production due to poor market policies put in place by the government.

“If farming is a business how can a farmer benefit as they pump in a lot of money on credit and are supposed to pay back loans for fertilizers and then the price drops like that and are in suspense as to how much they will sell their commodity,’’ he said.

Mr Hichilema said UPND is going to revive not only farming but also add value to the crops grown including maize before export to other countries to create employment for the people of Zambia.

He also claimed that the levels of street vending have increased because people cannot find employment in the country.

And the UPND leader also stated that his party is represented in all the ten provinces going by the composition of leaders in the top leadership which trickles down to lower organs of the party.

He said UPND represents a new breed of politicians who are willing to serve the people with passion and diligence.