Zambia : FRA's Electronic Payment System Wins Praise From Kasenengwa Farmers

Some farmers in Kasenengwa District have expressed satisfaction with the government's initiative to pay farmers supplying maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) electronically, using mobile money or bank accounts. Catherine Tembo of Kawendama Village said the move is commendable, noting that unlike in the past when farmers queued at banks, the current initiative has helped them save time. Ms Tembo explained that farmers can now withdraw their funds within their localities and at their own convenience. 'These mobile money operators are at least within our localities despite them not having huge sums of money sometimes here in rural areas,' she said. She highlighted that farmers were spending a lot of resources on transportation, food and other expenses, as they tried to access their money from banking institutions. 'Digital payments have really helped us because in the past we could spend days and nights on queues at the bank just so we could get paid,' she said. Another farmer, Develis Nyendwa who shared the same sentiments acknowledged that the initiative has helped farmers to avoid the long queues which were time consuming. Ms Nyendwa stated that it was disheartening to see farmers travel for days without accessing their money due to banks being congested. 'Previously farmers could travel to access their monies in banks but sadly, they had to make many trips due to long queues and lengthy procedures,' she said. Loading read count...