Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
MANGWE and Bulilima District farmers have indicated that they are ill prepared for the forthcoming agricultural season as they were not paid for the last deliveries to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

Bulilima Farmers’ Association chairperson Obert Sibanda said their farming activities were no longer viable as some farmers had not been paid for maize delivered to the GMB for the last harvest, while others received inadequate funds.

Sibanda said vast tracts of land were not being utilised due to resource constraints.

“Farmers are struggling to plough their designated areas because they don’t have the resources. Farmers rely on the proceeds they get from their harvest to prepare for the next farming season,” said Sibanda.

“In this case the proceeds aren’t coming because the GMB isn’t making payments and farmers are now struggling to secure inputs. A number of farmers are wondering how they will manage this time around.”

He said farmers were now being forced to scale down their operations, adding that the situation threatens the country’s food security.

Sibanda said there was need for farmers to focus on livestock farming as an alternative to growing crops since they were not getting paid.

Recently, farmers converged at the Plumtree GMB depot to collect their payments, but some were told that their names were not in the system.

Others received less than a quarter of what they were owed.

One of the farmers, Paulos Moyo, 76, of Norwood area in Bulilima District said the GMB owed him $784 but he was only paid $172.

He said he struggled to secure inputs for the previous farming season and this year the situation was worsening.

“I don’t even know when I will get the remainder of my money. I’m expected to fend for my family and prepare for the coming farming season with this money which is hardly enough. Farming is my only source of income but I don’t know how I will acquire inputs this farming season,” said Moyo.

Another farmer from Greenfield area in Mangwe, Siphephile Moyo, said she delivered maize worth $1,038 and was only paid $200.

Another farmer from Mangwe District, Jonathan Hombarume, said he was owed $3,600, but was not paid after being advised that his name did not appear on the list of those to be paid.

The government recently released $15 million to the GMB to pay farmers who delivered their grain to the national granary.

The payments were aimed at enabling farmers to prepare for the forthcoming agricultural season, but the money did not cater for all farmers.