Zambia has announced to deliver more than 100,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser to small-scale farmers countrywide, in a bid to increase farm productivity
David Shamulenge, permanent secretary for agriculture and livestock of Zambia, said that the government had procured 103,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Saudi Arabia for delivery to one million small-scale farmers under the 2014-2015 Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
"Only a minor consignment of 1,000 tonnes of the fertilisers is still pending to reach few selected farmers. Arrangements are in place to ensure that by the end of March 2015, the remaining districts receive their consignment of urea. The government will soon issue policy direction on the use of the e-voucher system. The e-voucher is an electronic system of acquiring farming inputs,” added Shamulenge.
Since 2002, FISP has provided fertiliser and seed at subsidised prices to farmers. Each year FISP has consumed the vast majority of the government of Zambia’s agricultural budget allocation to poverty reduction. In 2011, for example, 73 per cent of the poverty reduction budget was allocated to FISP.
