Farmers issued with expired maize under FISP
The Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) has revealed that some farmers under the Direct Input Supply (DIS) were issued with expired maize seed during the distribution of farm inputs in the 2018-2019 farming season. IAPRI senior research associate Auckland Kuteya has also disclosed that a total of 371,616 farmers in 45 districts were covered under the conventional FISP while 650,818 farmers remained under the e-voucher. Speaking when he made a presentation at the Implementation Review meeting of the E-voucher and DIS during 2018/2019 farming season, Mr. Kuteya also noted that farmers were not given a choice to inputs as this was already pre-determined, which he says defeated the diversification agenda. He says diversification is stifled due to delivery of fertilizer and mainly maize seed. And Mr Kuteya has observed that late release of funds under E- Voucher prevented full participation of the private sector and delayed release of inputs. He has ...