Decentralisation, key to good performance
Mungwi, January 9, ZANIS—–Agriculture and Livestock Minister Bob Sichinga says decentralisation is an important undertaking to the PF government because it will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the civil service.
Mr Sichinga said lack of capacity to deliver at district and grass-root levels is as a result of centralised structures in government hence the need to speed up the process to reverse the trend.
The minister was speaking this morning in Mungwi when he met heads of government departments in the District Commissioner’s office.
Mr Sichinga called for change of mindset amongst civil servants at all levels of government in order to enhance high levels of professionalism in the implementation of government programmes.
And over the Famer Input Support Programme (FISP) the minster said government has performed fairly well this season.
Mr Sichinga revealed that the distribution of Urea and Compound-D was going on well in the country.
The agriculture minister however, noted that the exercise in some places was being hampered by poor road network.
Mr Sichinga said in order to avoid late accessibility of inputs by farmers, government this year introduced a barter system where a famer was expected to exchange two by 50kg bag of maize with one by 50 kg bags of fertilizer.
He expressed happiness that Mungwi district in the Northern province has received a sufficient consignment of fertilizer this season adding that only about 2000 D-Compound fertilizer was remaining.
Mr Sichinga promised that the remaining fertilizer would be transported to the area soon.
The minister was in Mungwi in his continued tour of the country to monitor the distribution exercise of inputs.