JOIN DRIVERN TAXI AS PARTNER DRIVER TODAY!
—Famers in Kapiri Mposhi district have welcomed government’s plans to implement a pilot project of the E-voucher system under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
Kapiri Mposhi District Farmers Association (DFA) chairperson, Mwansa Bwalya said the electronic voucher system, once adopted, will lessen problems that farmers encounter in acquiring farming inputs.
Mr Bwalya said the electronic voucher system of input distribution will ensure that only genuine small scale registered farmers benefited from the Input Support Programme.
“As of now we have a lot of ghost farmers benefiting from FISP. E-voucher will help the government give the inputs to deserving and registered farmers,” Mr Mwansa said.
He also said the system will reduce input pilfering by Ministry of Agriculture workers.
In the 2013/2014 farming season the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock intends to pilot the E-voucher system in ten districts that include Kapiri Mposhi, Kabwe, Chibombo, and Mumbwa in Central Province.
Other districts include Chongwe, Choma, Kaoma, Mazabuka and Kalomo.
But Mr Mwansa has appealed to government to identify reliable and reputable suppliers of inputs in the ten pilot districts if the programme is to be a success.
He said it will not suffice for the program to fail on the premise of inefficiency of some noted suppliers who have failed to perform to government’s and people’s expectations before.
