FOOD RESERVE AGENCY, WHICH FOOD? ENTER: MARIJUANA RESERVE AGENCY(MRA)

By Namakando Nalikando-Sinyama

 I have always argued against the currently existing name for FRA for a more correct rendering of this State entity responsible for ensuring the protection National Food situation which is rather erroneously called Food Reserve Agency when its operations point to it being better known simply as  Maize Reserve Agency. Look, let us face it, in as much as they might want to claim they are equally involved in the  buying of Cassava, Millet or Rice and what not, that scale, if at all it even exists, is insignificant. FRA is predominantly, sadly only concerned with the Buying of Maize cheaply from Poor Farmers who Grow it expensively, and are stopped or barred from Exporting it to neighbouring Countries at a higher profit because this would substantially empower  them,which , as it happens,is not really the intention of the powers that be as this will cause  too many farmers to be empowered by having enough money to take their children to school. This, as it happens, is not the outcome they envisage or look forward to with relish. They would rather be the ones to possess the Monopoly for exporting the  Maize they did not grow and not openly account for the proceeds from these exports.

Imagine how much sensible it would be if FOOD Reserve Agency actually meant what it is supposed to mean. That is,them Expanding their scope by being actively involved in the production of everything we call Food in this country and depend on as a Nation. Fish, All Grain Crops and not just Maize, but including Vegetables crops, Livestock etc These are the things termed Food which we live on and FRA should be interested in their maximized production. This entity should have been empowered to oversee the production of all these items from the field to the Plate. Even the Maize that they Profit from, is it not shameful how they do not even care how much suffering the Poor Farmers go through to grow this Crop but simply want to buy it off them at a seriously disproportionate and laughably lower price than the actual Cost of production. They should have been involved in the Seed, Fertilizer and Crop Pesticide and Extension service Supply Chain. Although,the down side to this picture is perhaps that it would inevitably make the price they buy the Maize from the Farmer even way cheaper thus making its production by the farmers become even more meaningless.

The envisaged establishment of MRA or its variant WRA( Weed Reserve Agency) is for the active actual empowerment of the Locally existing Farmers and the many folks who will eventually be inspired to take up farming as a viable industry given the recent Revolutionary Policy shift to Legalise the Growing of Marijuana for Industrial and Medicinal purposes. The suggestion here is to have who ever is interested to get involved in the growing of this Cash Crop do so by making the License affordable and MRA be the up takers from the Citizens and then MRA guards it and exports it to which ever Country that will use it for whatever purposes Industrial,medicinal or Recreational and then the realised Foreign Exchange fed back into the National Coffers.

 For once ,let us be serious as a Nation,no one can Smoke a whole field of weed! To prevent a scenario of  having a High or heavily stoned citizenry, make the price for buying off the crop good enough and people would rather make money to spend on other things than get High on their own Supply, en masse!  This would ultimately cause a Nation to be full of Citizens with an extremely elevated Consciousness and  this might be deemed too threatening to the overall National 'Security' as the powers that be would rather continue with the current scenario of having a heavily sedated,malleable and pliable and Docile citizenry who see everything as A OK and Normal without ever mustering the courage to challenge the Status Quo for the betterment of Country. This,you see, is another subtle reason why Marijuana had been contained world wide as it has been feared that the self Awareness and assertiveness levels  it induces would be potentially disruptive to what they consider Social Order. It is almost like the fable of that Plant in the middle of  the Biblical Garden of Eden where you were told never to 'Eat' from as your Eyes would surely open! An epiphany has just hit me, what if ,it was not really an Apple in the Garden but this very Plant? I know this seem like some what radical revisionist Eschatology but hey, anything is possible but then, this is a subject for another day. This Plant is way too versatile to be just an ordinary Plant.

The direct involve of a Government entity in this manner will ensure that the revenue generated stays in the Country to develop it. You cannot seriously allow any foreign Entity, who are the only ones that will afford your exorbitant Growing Licenses to use your Country to grow this cash crop and cause Capital flight after they make their profits from your land to go and invest it in their countries. Or this aspect did not occur to anyone? Make the License affordable and Let the Citizens create Cooperatives to grow this crop at expanded levels of production and sell it to MRA. This model is laughably simple, it is actually almost shocking why it was not considered.

The question that begs an answer is, how will the National Maize Security be impacted with the advent of a new kid on the Block, Marijuana? How would government inspire people to still think it is worthwhile to grow Maize when it is a no Brainer that  Weed will give them more money? Which farmer in their right will continue expensively growing maize on a commercial  and for what? What we must realise though is that families will be surrounding mountain of Weed in the evening to live on, that would be illegal? What if it is their family medicine? There will still be need to have maize for Livestock Feed..... Why would farmers still continue on the Maize path though, what will be their motivation? If or when farmers ditch Maize as a crop the impact  on other sectors will be severe and the Nation can only suffer adversely.

 Whatever direction we choose to head in as a Country, one thing is for sure that ,I hope the Policy Makers realised that this Policy directive is a radical Paradigm shift and Agriculture as an industry has literally turned on its head and we can not carry on as business as usual. This Plant,Marijuana that is,is why too serious a Cash crop to allow it to be embroiled in your mediocrity of Maize Production and Marketing. We need to engage Think Tanks to come up with workable Value Chain Models so that we can maximally profit from it and not allow allow it to degenerate into the FRA Debacle or circus. By the way, when I say WE should benefit I mean, including or and especially the ordinary Citizens!