By PASSY HAACHIZO –
A TRADITIONAL leader in Central Province has advised Government and farmers to draw lessons from the hiccups that bedevilled the late activation of e-voucher cards for the 2016/2017 farming season.
In an interview after the installation of Copperbelt procurement senior officer Gent Musaka as Kwando Village Induna, recently, Chief Chamuka of the Lenje speaking people said time had come for the e-voucher innovation to be embraced with keen interest.
He said the e-voucher system had many benefits, chief of which was the weeding out of ghost farmers that were defrauding the Farmers Input Support Programme (FISP) that is set to be phased out now.
The e-voucher system had also improved the method of input collection for farmers by widening the choices available to them.
The chief however said learning from the mistakes that led to the long delays in the activation of the voucher in many districts would help to fine-tune the system to make sure it worked to the satisfaction of all stakeholders in coming seasons.
Chief Chamuka said there was need for the electronic cards to be activated by August to avoid losing time and inconveniencing farmers.
“The e-voucher system has helped the Government to get rid of ghost farmers from accessing farm inputs and I would commend Government for that but there is need to sit down and find out what had gone wrong,” he said.
He also commended Government for the efficiency with which it eradicated the armyworm and stalk-borer infestations that attacked maize fields in his area as well thousands more across the country, saying the same approach needed to be applied to deal with the locust threat in other parts of the Central Povince.
Meanwhile, chief Chamuka has disputed the rumors that there was an outbreak of a deadly and mysterious cattle disease in Nkonje Village.
“We were on the ground with officers from the veterinary but there is nothing on the ground so my advice to people is that they should not cause alarm before they find out the truth from experts,” he said.