Tobacco farmers ask government to include them in the Farmer Input Support Programme.

Most tobacco companies operating in Eastern Province are reported to have reduced the number of farmers being sponsored.
This move has however, worried some farmers, who have asked government to intervene.
Speaking to Breeze News, former EFAZ, Eastern Fodya Association of Zambia Secretary, Lazarus Mwale says that government should include tobacco farmers in FISP, the Farmer Input Support Programme.
Mr. Mwale told Breeze News that efforts by government to reduce poverty among the vulnerable will not yield results if they do not assist the farmers.
He has noted that most farmers depend on fertilizer assistance in order for them to grow tobacco.
And Mr. Mwale has asked government to investigate reasons why most farmers failed to pay back loans to tobacco merchants in the 2012-2013 farming season.
Some tobacco companies are reported to have taken the move to reduce the number of farmers being sponsored due to poor loan recoveries.