Govt to issue inputs purchasing vouchers

subsidised inputs scheme.
Farmers will collect the inputs from the Grain Marketing Board depots countrywide.

Agritex principal director, Mr Joseph Gondo, yesterday said the inputs had already been delivered to GMB depots.
“We are going to print over a million of the vouchers and these will be distributed to farmers through Agritex’s offices in the provinces and districts,” he said.

Farmers will use them to collect fertilisers and seed among other inputs.
Mr Gondo said the vouchers, which were being printed by Printflow and Fidelity Printers have some security features that will be used for verification at the depots.

“We hope by the end of this week we will have received the full batch of the vouchers,” he said.
GMB general manager, Mr Albert Mandizha, confirmed they had begun receiving the inputs.

“We started receiving inputs end of last week and farmers may start accessing the inputs as soon as they get vouchers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development,” he said.

Government is targeting 500 000 vulnerable farmers under the facility. A total of US$8,1 million was set aside for the Agriculture Input Support Facility for the Vulnerable. This facility will support 100 000 vulnerable farmers with an input package comprising 1x10kg maize seed or 1x 5kg sorghum, 1 x50kg compound D and 1x50kg Ammonium Nitrate fertilisers.

Of this US$20,3 million will cater for 250 000 communal farmers with an input package similar to those for the vulnerable households. The remaining US$17 million was set aside for small scale commercial and old resettlement farmers.