Recipients of the government’s grain loan scheme in Matabeleland were last week shocked to discover that the names on the stickers on the grain bags were of former white farmers. Government has imported 300,000 tonnes of maize from Zambia.
“Last week I received two bags of maize grain under the grain loan scheme from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depot in Insiza. One of the bags had a green sticker inside written, ‘supplied by Michel Handris’, a former Karoi commercial farmer now farming in the southern parts ofZambia,” said Edmore Ndlovu.
Villagers in Umguza confirmed receiving maize bags with stickers bearing names of former commercial farmers. A GMB source said “we are now required to destroy all the Zambian bags and repackage the grain in our local bags”.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made recently said nearly 45% of the maize crop planted last season was a write-off. The country needs at least 2, 2 million tonnes of maize to feed itself annually.
Post published in: Africa News