Zambian Farmer | November 2015
It’s a ticking time bomb. Rising input costs may push the cost of a 50kg bag of maize beyond K150 in 2016. The kwacha has lost half of its value in 2015, peaking a record K14.45 per US dollar, and pushing costs of imported fertiliser and chemicals up more than 100%. Not to mention other costs such as transportation, bagging, electricity, wages and many more. In the fourth week of October, a 50kg bag of fertilizer was fetching K450.
In the previous season, a farmer had to part with 3.3 bags of maize to afford one bag of fertilizer using the FRA producer price of K70 but this season, a farmer has to part with 5.4 bags of maize to afford one bag of fertilizer at the FRA price of K75.
Bearing in mind these costs, the cost calculations for maize production this season demonstrate that the break-even price for a 50kg bag of maize ranges from K130.60 to K259.70, and if a 10% profit for a farmer is factored in, the producer price for different scenarios ranges from K143.60 to K285.70 for a 50kg bag of maize.
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Articles in this issue
Below is a selection of articles in Zambian Farmer November 2015.