By CHATULA KANGALI –
THE Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has raised the red flag over the increased importation of foreign agricultural produce which has adversely affected the local market.
ZNFU President  Jarvis Zimba  said  in an  interview  that  the union  was  not  happy  with  the  influx of externally-produced vegetables into the country.
Mr Zimba said some chain store supermarkets despite having been urged by Government to stock locally-produced agricultural products were still importing.
He said the trend had now extended to tomato and onions and posing a danger which was harming the growth of the local sector.
“We are very  disappointed  that Government  has  continued  to issue  permits  to some  chain-store  supermarkets to import vegetables from South Africa which are also  locally  grown. This trend is disadvantaging local farmers to grow their businesses,” he said.
Mr Zimba said some farmers were still having difficulties having their products stocked in chain-stores.
He expressed concern that that local producers had difficulty to sell their produce because they were denied access to chain-store supermarkets.
Mr Zimba said that tomato growers were currently recording losses because Tanzanians had continued bringing the same produce at cheaper prices.
He said that local tomato growers were spending a lot of money and resources to grow the crop due to the increase in the prices of the chemicals for tomato pests.
Mr Zimba has urged Government to limit the issuance of permits for products that were locally produced.
He said that farmers in the country were committed to contribute to the growth of the sector hence the need for them to compete favourably on the local market.