. Nguleka

By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
THE Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has urged parliamentarians to address the shortfalls of the 2015 national Budget for the agriculture sector.
ZNFU president Evelyn Nguleka said failure to do that would lead to stagnation of the sector due to the unlikely stimulation of investment and meaningful growth in the sector.
Dr Nguleka said this in her submissions to the Expanded Parliamentary Committee on Estimates presented by the ZNFU deputy executive director Ellah Chembe on Monday.
This is in reaction to the 2015 national budget presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda on October 10,2014.
Dr Nguleka noted that although the Government has increased the national budget to K46.7 billion in 2015 from the K42.68 billion announced in 2014, the overall budget allocation to the Ministry of Agriculture had  been reduced.
Dr Nguleka said lack of tax relief on inputs in the agricultural production process meant that Zambia would remain a high cost producer making its products expensive.
She said the budget fell out of tune with its theme of “Celebrating our Golden Jubilee as One Zambia One Nation by Making Economic Independence a Reality for All.”
“Economic independence cannot take place when important sectors such as agriculture are not accorded significant resource allocations through a key document such as the national budget.
“Government declaration of agriculture as a priority sector in policy documents such as the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP) should be matched with action to transform the sector,” she said.
Dr Nguleka said that resource allocation in the 2015 budget demonstrated that the FRA and FISP would remain the dominant programmes of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
She said while it was encouraging to note that funds have been allocated towards implementation of the E-voucher, particular attention should be given to implementation to guard against slippage.
Dr Nguleka also said that apart from the measures taken to reduce the cost of Jet fuel and increasing the level of import duty on edible oil, the budget provided no tax policy measures to enhance the competitiveness of agricultural products.