The Zambian government plans to use an electronic voucher card system, which utilises mobile phone technology, for this year’s farming and maize marketing season.
The e-vouchers are planned to use a mobile phone delivery and tracking system to distribute subsidised inputs to targeted farmers.
Also, a web-based interface is set to be used as part of the system and is planned to be accessed on mobile phones by the beneficiary farmers under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
Zambia’s maize marketing season begins next month.
The Zambian government says the e-voucher system could improve service delivery to the beneficiaries and that it may help eliminate corruption in the supply of farming inputs to farmers.
The e-voucher system is also expected to be managed by Zambia’s ministry of agriculture and livestock.
And Zambia’s minister of agriculture and livestock, Bob Sichinga, has said the tender for the selection of the service provider for the e-voucher card system is expected to be concluded at the end of this month.
“We want to use the electronic system in this year’s maize marketing programme and the distribution of farming inputs to the beneficiary farmers,” Sichinga said.
The Zambian government has said it intends to launch the e-voucher system because most people that benefited from the FISP through the cooperatives were mainly farmers from the same cooperatives instead of the poor resource citizens.
However, Sichinga said he expects that there will be no corruption in the e-voucher process because farmers are to be registered one-by-one and that communication would only be between the ministry of agriculture and livestock and the farmer himself -- not through the cooperatives.
The Zambian government also says the e-voucher system could be easy to use because the farmers would have to cash the e-voucher system with the agro-dealers in their locality.
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