Comments on: Maize is a poor mans crop – Sinkamba

By: THE PRINCE

THE PRINCE — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 05:00:25 +0000

@ maloza: You are so funny truly made me laugh. Mountain of Nsima with a Tiny piece of Relish “is it Meat of RePU” Adult at weighing 35 kgs and 1.3M? You Crazy…
Facts though, and the article has lots of factors to it. Sinkamba Hit the Nail right on the Head. Maize is just to labour Intense. We should just plant it for our Nsima, not as a poverty reduction strategy.

By: Dortmund

Dortmund — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 03:53:45 +0000

excellent analysis president sinkamba maize has indeed failed many people u can’t tackle poverty based on maize farming

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 11:25:34 +0000

In reply to Ndanje Khakis.

Zambia in the Sun: Correct! So why not add value to it, to build on the hard work rather than undermine it? If that isn’t possible and there is genuinely something better, by all means try switching to that. Otherwise we should enable people to build on what they have, even it it is little. That is the real way out of poverty!

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 11:04:14 +0000

Poor people are not stupid; they do not have that luxury. They do what they can to survive and if they can survive on maize, we need to support them. Also what are branded items like Doritos made from, and who consumes them? A farmers maize collective with the right support could feed themselves with maize and use any surplus to produce higher value products like tortilla chips to compete with products like Doritos. Why not?

By: Ndanje Khakis

Ndanje Khakis — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 09:22:23 +0000

In reply to Ndanje Khakis.

2.3 I get surprised each time I pay my domestic that he buys lager without complaining but when it comes to a bag of mealie meal he’s got a myriad complaints. How did we rich this stage where we give priority to beer.

By: Mwape

Mwape — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:55:15 +0000

Lets not lose the point.

The submission is that though billions of dollars have been spent on FISP and subsidised fertiliser for maize farmers, point out ONE farmer who is a beneficiary of FISP that has pulled himself out of poverty ?

Maize is a poor mans crop.

i disagree. South Africa produces 4 times the maize we do. Its in the hands of large white farmers. They are NOT poor. Neither are the corn farmers in the USA.

In Zambia, in exchange for the free/subsidised inputs, the peasant farmer is forced to sell his maize at a regulated price. The price is manipulated through the FRA floor price. This is what politicians require to keep their voters happy.

If a “fair” world market price was paid to farmers, they would surely not be wallowing in poverty.

In his…

By: Zed Patriot

Zed Patriot — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:15:13 +0000

Wabeya Umbeshi, could you give an example of high value cash crops that small scale farmers should grow to reduce poverty? You just singled out cotton in my example and did not comment on tobacco. Isn’t tobacco a high value crop? Has beans a high value crop grown by small scale farmers in North Western Province reduced poverty in that region? My point is that instead of wholesale condemnation of a crop, we should look at other factors that could contribute to non eradication of poverty. Scale of production could be one such.

By: Nipnak

Nipnak — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 17:00:24 +0000

In reply to Zed Patriot.

Very true! We need wholesome political commitment to map the way forward to achieve this long-term endeavor.

By: Nipnak

Nipnak — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 16:56:06 +0000

In reply to Bamwine.

Rhetorical & Political! Be objective and analytical Mr Sinkamba. Dora has PS & HODs.

By: Nipnak

Nipnak — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 16:47:10 +0000

In reply to Ndanje Khakis.

How much does it cost to do one hectare of maize and how many 50kg bags can one expect to harvest, on average, from the same?