State grain trader, Agriculture Development Marketing Cooperation (ADMARC) has disclosed that it has no funds to purchase maize in the country.
ADMARC’s Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dhlelisile Matondo Phiri has told the Parliamentary Cluster on Agriculture and Food security and Natural Resources that the Cooperation has K7.2 billion which she says it is not enough.
Phiri added that the state grain trader had plans of purchasing 410, 000 metric tonnes of farm produce with 300, 000 metric tonnes of maize budgeted at K45 billion.
“The funds we have at the moment we have K7.2 billion but it’s not enough, it’s just a bridging finance that will take us from now to the time we are to access the actual funding.
“The total budget for procuring commodities only was K82.7 million but for it to be a whole budget we need to add logistical cost and maintenance of the warehouses which that will going to give us the whole budget,” said Matondo Phiri.
Commenting on the development, co-chairperson of the Cluster Werani Chilenga has faulted Ministry of Finance for mistreating Admarc and delaying the processes behind the cooperation’s budget.
“ADMARC has told the Cluster that they don’t have money to buy maize, we have told them to go back and come back with more information but the whole blame has been put on Ministry of Finance.
“Because ADMARC was looking for an external financier, the processes started sometime back instead of the Ministry of Finance resolving that issue in time they have delayed it up to this time,” said Chilenga.
Nonetheless, the state grain trader says it has started purchasing some of the farm produce with the bridging finance it has.
“Though we have delayed using the bridging finance, we still open markets in the south and start buying as we are waiting to access the actual funding to buy properly.
“Our markets are open, we are buying soya beans, we are buying rice and we are also buying cotton in the south,” said the ADMARC acting CEO.
Matondo Phiri also told the Cluster that ADMARC is yet to contact with an external financier which was supposed to borrow ADMARC funds amounting to $518 000 000 which is approximately K414.4 billion.
In the current 2021/2022 budget estimates ADMARC has been allocated K12 billion which supposed to be for the Cooperation and the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA).
