Zero delivery of fertiliser! – as ZNFU declares the delivery, distribution of farm inputs for 2022/2023 farming season chaotic, unless there is dramatic intervention, country’s food security at risk

BY NATION REPORTER

The delay and zero delivery and distribution of fertilizer across the country is a deliberate ploy to create a crisis that would lead to ‘corrupt’ single sourcing of farm inputs.

But Kelvin Kaleyi, the ZNFU spokesperson has cautioned that government should be careful in the manner it was managing the 2022/2023 farming season because there was a real danger that the farming season could be a disaster with the potential to affect the food security of the country.

The crisis, it has been disclosed would cause a desperate situation that would create conditions that would lead to the declaration of the non-delivery and distribution of fertilizer a crisis and call for emergency procurement that would lead to single sourcing of the commodity.

The tendering process for the procurement, supply, delivery and distribution of fertilizer, it has been revealed, was so manipulated that it left out credible and capable suppliers with enough stocks in favour of briefcase suppliers with no capacity to meet the demanded mandate.

This, it has been said has delivery and distribution of fertilizer for the 2022/2023 farming season into deeper crisis as there has been 98 percent zero delivery and distribution of the input in Central, Lusaka, Eastern and other Provinces.

Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) is deeply concerned and has described as chaotic, government’s inability to ensure the timely delivery and distribution of fertilizer, fearing that the 2022/23 farming season has been messed up by the break of the traditional supply chain.

And in panic, government, in a bid to hasten the delivery and distribution of fertilizer is writing to individual suppliers with contracts calling them out and expressing apprehension at the delay and total failure to deliver even a single bag of the input as of November 1, 2022.

Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Green Mbozi has, in addressing the crisis, ordered the suppliers to expedite the process of delivering and distribution of fertilizer and has given up to November 30, for the contractors to complete their mandate.

The Fertilizer Seed and Grain Limited, one of the companies that was awarded a contract to supply and deliver 24,406.65 MT of Compound D and 8,878.00 MT of Urea fertilizer in Central and Lusaka Provinces has delivered zero out of what it was allocated by November 1, 2022.

Efforts to get a comment from Rueben Mtolo, the Minister of Agriculture failed as all the calls placed on his mobile phone went unanswered.  

But in a letter dated   October 25, 2022 addressed to the managing director of Fertilizer Seed and Grain Limited (FSG), Mr Mbozi has cautioned the managing director of FSG against delaying any further the delivery and distribution of fertilizer because it would be difficult to carry out the exercise after the onset of the rains. Government has also written to Agrizam Investment Limited, giving the company the same caution against the delay of delivering and distributing fertilizer in Eastern Province which has also recorded almost zero delivery.

From its allocation of 29,181.45MT of Compound D and 29.933.45MT of Urea, Agrizam has only delivered a meagre 5,866.20MT of Compound D and 248.00MT of Urea representing a 2 percent and 0.9 percent delivery of its allocation respectively.

Now, the ZNFU says the failure by government to ensure fertilizer was delivered on time was a major concern and that farmers whose fields have already been prepared are becoming anxious and desperate.

Mr Kaleyi said in an interview that it was a disaster in making that there has been 98 percent zero delivery of fertilizer and other farm inputs for the 2022/2023 farming season.

“The 2022/2023 farming season has been messed up. It is chaotic and farmers do not like chaos. Farmers have had their fields prepared and have been waiting for fertilizer from July and the delivery and distribution should have been heading towards completion by November. But now we are in November and there has been 98 percent zero delivery across the country. Farmers are panicking and there is anxiety. Government must address this chaos that has characterized the procurement, supply, delivery, warehousing and distribution of fertilizer for this farming season,” Mr Kaleyi said.

He said the danger was that government would have to continue with the delivery and distribution of fertilizer way into January and that farmers were worried that for the first time, there was a possibility that they would not be able to access fertilizer and other farm inputs. He said with the change of policy that would see farmers bear their own cost of collecting their inputs to their respective destinations, there was need to expedite the delivery of the inputs.  

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