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Agriculture Minister, Mtolo Phiri, has revealed that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) overshot its maize purchase target by 306 percent during the 2025 crop marketing season, as the government grapples with over K7 billion in arrears to farmers.
Providing an update in Parliament on Tuesday, Phiri said FRA commenced the 2025 crop marketing season on 30th June 2025 and recorded an overwhelming response from small-scale farmers across the country.
In the current marketing season, the FRA had projected to purchase 543,000 tonnes of maize at K6,800 per tonne (K340 per 50kg bag), with the total cost estimated at K3,692,400,000.
“Madam Speaker, due to the bumper harvest experienced in the 2024/2025 season and the limited participation of the private sector in maize marketing, the government decided to increase its share of maize purchases. As of October 31, 2025, FRA had purchased 1,663,934 tonnes of white maize valued at K11,314,750,520,” Phiri said.
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He added that this maize was supplied by a total of 846,655 farmers nationwide, representing a 306 percent increase above the initial intended target.
“The extra cost, and therefore, the additional cash requirement was K7,622,350,520,” Phiri said, emphasizing the government’s commitment to timely payment of farmers.
Phiri assured that the government was doing its best to ensure that the debt owed to farmers was settled within a reasonable time.
“We will not relent in finding solutions to ensure that our farmers are paid their dues in good time to allow them to prepare for the next farming season. I wish to report that the government has so far disbursed K2,088,550,000 towards farmer payments,” he stated.
He said the remaining balance was being addressed through structured financial interventions to ensure all farmers are paid as quickly as possible.
To accelerate payments, Phiri said the government, through FRA, successfully concluded engagements with commercial banks for a structured loan facility amounting to K5 billion.
“This facility will bridge the financing gap and enable the FRA to clear much of the remaining dues to farmers,” he said.
Phiri also revealed that FRA has initiated maize sales to enhance its liquidity, adding that these efforts will enable the government to resolve outstanding payments to farmers.
On storage, he assured Parliament that there was sufficient space for all maize collected, with FRA having 1,105,510 tonnes of its own storage space.
“The agency has 1,663,934 tonnes from the 2025 marketing season and 167,356 tonnes of carryover stock. This brings the total maize stock to 1,831,290 tonnes,” Phiri explained.
He said the 727,027 tonnes of storage space above FRA’s own capacity had already been arranged through the private sector.
Phiri stated that the government remained committed to ensuring all maize purchased by FRA was properly stored, particularly as the rains have commenced.
“Government remains steadfast in ensuring that the agriculture sector continues to thrive as a pillar of Zambia’s economic transformation and rural development agenda,” he stated.
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