Farmers benefitting from scheme

THE Government’s K50 million agriculture price intervention support programme has greatly assisted farmers, says Cocoa Board chief executive officer Boto Gaupu.
Gaupu said K10 million had been already been used for the price support programme around the country.
“Of that K10 million, we were instructed that (it) is for price support alone,” he said.
“And, as such, there is a high visibility over the use of the money.
“We have given out price support to provinces based on their production capacity and the number of operators based in provinces.
“In terms of buying point, we know who is who in the industry.
“So we have parked money with licenced operators and those who have money (and a) good trading history.
“We are comfortable that we are working with the farmers.”
The price support programme has been well received by farmers around the country, Gaupu said.
Rubber Board chairperson Josephine Kenni said the industry received K2 million, with K200,000 used as intervention for the Rubber Act (1953).
Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon said they had received a lot of positive feedback from the farmers.
“After rolling out the K50 million, we’ve seen a lot of impact.”