By SYLVESTER MWALE –
“I WAS hit on two fronts: While I was still struggling to get the inputs from the Government, my field was invaded by the armyworm and I had no capacity to defeat them.”
This is the precarious situation Agness Chaaba of Chibombo District in Central Province found herself in at the onset of the on-going farming season.
Her story mirrors that of the majority of the more than 1 million small-scale farmers in the country who were targeted for the subsidised Government funded Farmer Inputs Support Programme (FISP).
The National Union for Small-scale Farmers has described the distribution exercise as a disaster while President Edgar Lungu has not hidden his frustration and disappointment at the chaotic exercise.
The farmers did not only struggle to access the inputs, but they were also faced with an even greater challenge of eliminating the deadly armyworms that had invaded their fields.

MUTATI

It has been argued that the conventional distribution of Government fertiliser and seeds has been marred with corruption and outright theft of inputs by those entrusted with the responsibility of serving the vulnerable.
Therefore, the Government envisaged that the introduction of the e-voucher system, which was piloted in selected districts across the country last year, would be critical in curtailing the looting of inputs so that they reach the intended target.
However, this has not been the case as the system has so far proved to be a curse for many farmers in the 2016/17 farming season where many of them failed to access the inputs on time.
“I am not against the system as some people would believe, but I can say that there is a lot to be done before I can agree that the system is good. From last year, my card has not been activated, meaning that I cannot access the inputs.
“So for me I think until everything is put in place, we should have been using the old system,” said Ms Chaaba.
While the farming season starts around October, a significant amount of inputs had not been delivered to farmers by the end of December either because the seed, which comes with the inputs, was not ready or because the electronic cards were not activated.
For instance, by December 31, 2016, only 542 cards out of more than 24,000 for farmers in Kabwe District had been activated and ready for use by the farmers.
“I am concerned with Kabwe and I must say that you should pull up your socks because you should be a shining example,” said Provincial Minister Sydney Mushanga when he met district commissioners from six districts where FISP is being implemented.
Apparently, Central Province has 11 districts but only six – Chibombo, Kabwe, Chisamba, Serenje, Mumbwa and Kapiri Mposhi – are distributing the inputs using the e-voucher system while the rest are still under conventional FSIP.
“Time has gone and we need to quickly find a way in which we can deliver these inputs without further delays, otherwise this can affect food security in our province,” Mr Mushanga warned.
Chief Chitambo of the Lala people in the province said most of the Government’s subsidised inputs will only be used in the next farming season because it was late.
“The distribution of inputs this year has been poor to say the least, because up to now, most of the farmers here in Chitambo have not yet received fertiliser or seed.
“Now, it is not true that we are stopping people from getting the inputs but I think it is just necessary that the seed and fertiliser is used for the next farming season because it is already late now,” the traditional leader said.
There have been impulsive theories as to what exactly has caused the delay to deliver the inputs on time to allow the farmers plan for the season.
The banks could not activate the e-voucher cards on time so that the farmers could access the inputs.
President Edgar Lungu, who expressed disappointment with the delay, said he was interested to know why the banks could not activate the cards on time.
“I am disappointed with the 2016-2017 fertiliser distribution exercise because some banks have failed to activate the cards on time,” Mr Lungu said when he visited Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people in Eastern Province.
He said the e-voucher cards worked like ATM cards such that if they are not activated, then farmers should have been allowed to get the inputs manually because that is what happens when an ATM machine is not working.
While in Eastern Province, President Lungu met with bank representatives whose explanation on the delay to activate the cards was probably far from convincing to many farmers.
According to ZNBC, Zanaco Chipata branch manager Botha Lungu, whose bank is one of the banks implementing the e-voucher system, said the activation of the e-voucher cards was delayed because his institution received the instructions very late.
While the blame game is likely to persist up to harvest time, there is one fundamental factor that should also be brought into the equation.
The successful implementation of the e-voucher system requires that the Government deposits money into the FISP account before asking the farmers to deposit theirs so that the process of activating the cards can start.
But the Government coffers had been overstretched last year, especially with the 2016 presidential elections, a situation which delayed the depositing of the money.
Central Provincial Agricultural coordinator Adrine Nasungwe said the banks have also let the farmers down because even e-voucher cards for last farming season had not been activated by the end of December, 2016.
Apart from the e-voucher, even those farmers that received the inputs under the old system were subjected to a long frustrating waiting before accessing the inputs and seed.
In many cases, thousands of bags of Compound D fertiliser which were delivered on time in some districts were withheld for distribution because the seed was not yet ready.
Another shortcoming on the part of the Government was that some banks were awarded contracts to implement e-voucher system even in areas where they did not have a presence.
For instance, UBA was asked to handle e-voucher programme in Serenje District where the bank does not have a branch, and one wonders how a farmer would deposit the money for the inputs.
National Union for Small-Scale Farmers (NUSSF) Director General Frank Kayukwa said most small-scale farmers had been left stranded by the chaotic manner in which FISP had been implemented.
“Most farmers in several parts of the country have not yet accessed seed and fertiliser even as the critical month of December approaches an end.
“Agro dealers, who were supposed to be supplying farmers with farming inputs under the e-voucher, have still not been paid by the Government,” he said.
Admittedly, the introduction of the e-voucher cards in inputs distribution is well intended in as far as reaching the targeted households by the Government is concerned.
This is because the conventional method had proved to be prone to abuse particularly by those entrusted with the responsibility of disbursing the inputs to vulnerable farmers.
Apparently, this has not only threatened the national’s food security, but also resulted into huge loss on the part of the Government because the inputs are going into wrong hands.
Finance Minister Felix Mutati announced during the presentation of the 2017 National Budget that the Government intended to fully implement the system in 2018 in order to avoid pilferage that has been associated with the old system.
However, there are many things that need to be put in place before fully implementing the e-voucher programme, otherwise the national food security might be compromised.
It is gratifying that President Lungu has acknowledged the challenges faced in the implementation of the e-voucher initiative.
But while the Head of State is keen to rectify the problem next farming season, the biggest task falls on implementing officers.
There are palpable speculations that the e-voucher has caused discomfort among some Government officers who personally benefitted from the old system.
In this regard, they will certainly be happy to see the e-voucher system flop so that the Government is forced to revert back to the conventional system to enable them continue with pilferage.
Regardless of how difficult it might be, identifying and eliminating such individuals will be critical if the full implementation of the e-voucher system across the country is to be successful and appreciated.
The Government should also consider engaging banks and agro dealers that exist in each district implementing the system.
This will help the farmers to easily deposit the money and access the inputs without the agony of travelling long distances.
Perhaps more importantly, the FISP account should always have sufficient funds so that farmers can be allowed to deposit their cash even soon after harvest instead of waiting for the rainy season.
Finally, there is need to educate both farmers and other government officers that e-voucher is here to stay and those that are against it should just leave it!