• Energy Regulation Board decision to maintain Diesel prices on the local market will enhance productivity
• Diesel dominates the entire farm supply chain.
• Stability in the price of diesel will help farmers to plan for a long term.

National Union for Small Scale Farmers in Zambia (NUSFAZ) says Energy Regulation Board (ERB)’s decision to maintain Diesel prices on the local market will enhance productivity for small scale farmers who use the commodity for generators to pump out water for irrigation purposes.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Union Executive Director Ebony Loloji stated that this decision is commendable as farmers who use diesel for irrigation have for a long time complained that fuel is expensive for them.
Mr. Loloji is optimistic that stability in the price of diesel will help farmers to plan for a long term without facing challenges.
“Zambia’s agriculture is among the most productive and economically valuable in the world; producing more yield in less time with fewer inputs, due to the advancements in the machines and equipment such as diesel engines power that does the planting, harvesting, and tending of the land,” he said
Mr. Loloji said diesel engines are used to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops as well as transport them to markets or processors, and then ultimately deliver the final products to the consumer.
He also explained that the biggest expense in cultivating paddy rice is diesel as rice demands lots of water to grow.
“There farmers who use about six hundred litres of diesel during the crop season to irrigate their rice on about twenty five-acre land, “he said
He added that Ninety-six percent of the large trucks that move agricultural commodities to railheads and warehouses are powered by a diesel engine.
“Diesel powers 100% of the freight locomotives and inland barge and trucks that transport bulk harvested crops such as corn and grain to processing facilities,” he stated.