• FRA is one of the players in the market just like any other crop marketing company.
• Farmers must understand that FRA is not the monopoly that it used to be.
• FRA is not the ultimate buyer.

An Economist has observed that the country’s crop marketing environment is now liberalized as briefcase buyers no longer exist.
Speaking to Money FM News, Noah Kabwita said farmers must know that private individuals who purchase maize from them are not briefcase buyers but traders just like the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
Mr. Kabwita explained that FRA is one of the players in the market but farmers are still seeing the Agency as the ultimate buyer, hence the need for them to understand that FRA is not the monopoly that it used to be, therefore they are free to sale their maize to private buyers.
“We are moving away from this mentality of saying let FRA announce its maize price, leave FRA alone, it is now a player like any other crop marketing company, they can offer any price and it’s up to you to leave or take it. So you have options you can choose where to go and sale,” Mr. Kabwita said.
Mr. Kabwita added that FRA is offering K160 per 50 kilogram bag of maize to farmers whose farming inputs were subsidized.
“The only thing that FRA is interested in at K160 per 50 kg bag of maize is the maize that is coming from what they supplied as inputs that is what they subsidized and those that they subsidized, they are offering them this price. If the farmers were honest enough they will not complain.”
“But you and me who were not subsidized in terms of fertilizer, we were hoping that once we grow our crops, we are going to supply to FRA and we were thinking FRA is going to give us a good price we were mistaken, we need to see what is happening on the ground, what changes are going on. FRA is a big player in the market but it is not the only one, so farmers have options,” he added.
Several stakeholders in the agriculture sector have expressed displeasure over the move by Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to peg the maize price at K160 per 50 kilogram bag during the 2022 crop marketing season, in view of the high cost of farming inputs and effects of climate change on the sector which affected crop production.