Taxpayers may shoulder losses of K15 billion following the National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef) failure to disburse large quantities of seed, fertiliser and chemicals that now lie idle in its warehouses and approaching expiry.
The stockpile, officials say, resulted from over‑procurement during the 2024/25 season and includes items already damaged by prolonged storage.
Neef chief executive Kayisi Sadala told the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Corporations and State Enterprises on Friday that the inputs had been intended for the organisation’s farm‑input loan facility last season but were not disbursed and were carried into the current season.
“There were instances of over‑procurement for farm‑input loans. Some of these items are perishable and have been damaged by extended storage,” Sadala said.
He added that fertilisers and chemicals are nearing expiry while many seeds have passed their shelf life.
Kayisi told the committee that Neef has applied to Treasury and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) for permission to dispose of the stock to limit losses and recover funds for future loan disbursements.
The disposal process is expected to begin this week after a mandatory 10‑day public notice period in local newspapers.
Committee chair Sylvester Ayuba James expressed scepticism about the disposal plan, warning that advertising the sale in newspapers risks excluding the very smallholder farmers Neef exists to serve.
““We have not been assured that those will benefit from the disposal are those that were intended to benefit from the procurement in terms of their economic statuses because Neef exists to serve the poor and the underserved and the underprivileged.
“These items were meant for the poor, but you hear the advert is in the newspaper where farmers cannot access. There are farmers there that need these inputs but due to this process they won’t access them,” he said.
Ayuba James called for disciplinaryaction on individuals found to have erroneously being involved in over-procurement process.
Civil society and sector experts have since criticised the handling of the inputs.
Mwapata Institute executive director William Chadza called the situation “unfortunate and ironic,” noting that while many farmers struggle to obtain inputs on time, government agencies hold idle stock.
“This could be a waste of scarce resources. More systemic issues are to be dealt with in the food system. There should be effective coordination among the various parties in the food system from farmers, production, and input service providers all the way to consumers. Also, consider reviewing institutional mandates to streamline the flow of support to farmers,” he said.
Accountability watchdog Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (CSAT) executive director Willy Kambwandira described the over‑procurement as evidence of “gross incompetence at best or deliberate abuse of procurement systems at worst.”
“Over procurement on this scale points to gross incompetence at best or deliberate abuse of procurement systems at worst. And then, disposing of inputs to recoup some money should be treated as a damage control exercise to quietly close the chapter.
“This is an admission that public resources were wasted when livelihoods were at risk. The real scandal is not the disposal itself but the fact that no one appears to be held accountable for decisions that locked away inputs when farmers needed them most,” he said.
Kambwandira warned that disposing of the inputs to recoup funds risks becoming a damage‑control exercise that obscures responsibility for wasted public resources.
Neef’s own report shows the institution remains active in lending: between April and September 2025 it issued K62 billion in micro‑irrigation and livestock loans, reaching 123 279 farmers and distributing 253 793 bags of fertiliser, 21 125 goats and 36 740 chickens, with maize and beans planted on an estimated 187 566 acres.
