Africa-Press – Lesotho. The government’s decision to block the distribution of fertilizers to traders while selling to block farmers first has infuriated farmers across the country.
In a memo issued on Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture said it would “block the week of 13th to 22nd October to sell the inputs to block farmers”. “This means the sale to the traders will pause to allow the farmers to buy inputs for timely planting,” the memo stated.
The ministry said it was engaging a private company to manage the input stores in Botha-Bothe, Leribe, Mohale’s Hoek as well as Ha-Foso warehouse. The memo said “since we are already in the middle of the plating season, the inputs will be sold as they come”.
“However because of the shortage of inputs a decision was made to sell the inputs to the block farmers as well,” the memo reads in part.
The chairperson of the Mafeteng District Farmers Association, Sofia Khomari, said they do not have any problem when the fertilizer is distributed in groups with block farmers being the first to receive it.
However, their problem is whether they will end up getting the fertilizer because this is delaying them from start farming. Khomari said their worry is whether the government will fulfill its promise to deliver fertilizer on time.
Khomari said the government is playing hide and seek with farmers. She further mentioned that this seems like it is politically motivated. “Politicians are taking advantage and misusing their power to discriminate against a certain group of people,” she said.
She said by giving the fertilizer first to block farmers will delay the farming period. She said this is the time for them to plant but they have been waiting for the government to supply them with the fertilizer.
Khomari said the delays might mean they might fail to plant this season. She said any failure to plant will affect not only them as farmers but their communities as well.
Khomari said this will also affect them financially since they sustain their livelihoods through farming and pay their children’s fees with the money they generate from selling crops.
So when they have nothing to sell because they did not plant anything it becomes a big challenge. The chairman of Thaba-Tseka District Farmers Association, Mosala Bereng said they have nothing to say since “whatever we can say to the government does not matter anyway”.
“If the government made a decision to separate us from the block farmers in terms of fertilizer distribution, let it be,” Bereng said.
“Maybe the government has a better reason to do that since it seems like the block farmers are the only group that sustains the economy,” he said.
“Maybe we are not as important as the block farmers.
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Bereng said the Lesotho National Farmers Union (LENAFU) had recently offered 180 bags of potatoes to 60 farmers in Thaba-Tseka where each got three bags of 30 kg each.
He said the seed is already there so all they need now is the fertilizer. He said he went to the facility to buy fertilizer yesterday but came back empty-handed.
He said this is discouraging farmers. He said since the seed is already there they cannot wait any longer since they will end up harvesting products of less quality.
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