The Chinsali District Agriculture Office has expressed concern over reports that some farmers in the district are losing their redemption codes that could enable them access farming inputs under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). ‎Chinsali District Agriculture…

The Chinsali District Agriculture Office has expressed concern over reports that some farmers in the district are losing their redemption codes that could enable them access farming inputs under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).

‎Chinsali District Agriculture Coordinator, Frank Sindazi, disclosed that unscrupulous people have allegedly acquired redemption codes for some farmers and used them to redeem inputs without farmers’ knowledge.

‎Mr Sindazi says preliminary checks on the system have confirmed that some of the reported codes had already been redeemed through local agro-dealers.

He said this in an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chinsali District.

‎‎Mr Sindazi has promised that his office will investigate the issue and establish how the codes were obtained and identify those responsible for the alleged malpractice.

‎‎He also encouraged farmers to keep their redemption codes confidential to prevent unauthorised access to their farming inputs.

‎‎“Farmers must be very careful with their codes and ensure that they do not share them with anyone, because doing so can lead to other people redeeming their inputs without their knowledge,” Mr Sindazi said.

Meanwhile, the DACO has confirmed that farmers in Chinsali have started accessing farming inputs under FISP.

Mr Sindazi said out of the 8,466 targeted beneficiaries in the district, 5,072 farmers have accessed their farming inputs from various agro-dealers, leaving 3,394 yet to benefit from the programme.

‎Mr Sindazi said the programme is progressing well, although some farmers are experiencing challenges related to blocked mobile phone numbers which is making it difficult to update their details and access inputs.

‎‎He said the technical challenges need to be addressed urgently to enable the remaining beneficiaries to access their farming inputs.

‎‎“We hope that these challenges will be resolved quickly so that the remaining farmers can also access their inputs in good time,” Mr Sindazi said.

‎ Mr Sindazi further explained that farmers accessed the inputs after delivering maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and selling their produce to designated agents, with K400 deducted from their proceeds.