Vice President Inonge Wina says the launch of the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LUSE) commodity market which is a joint effort between LUSE, Zambia Commodity Exchange (ZAMACE) and Musika Initiative Zambia will help enhance agricultural production in the country.
In a speech read on her behalf by Finance Minister Dr Bwalya Ng’andu at the launch of the commodity market yesterday , Mrs Wina said such initiatives provide a basis for efficient and effective development of agricultural value chains essential for sustaining production of agricultural commodities.
She said government is elated that small scale farmers and SMEs will be the major beneficiaries of the market initiative as it would allow them to store their agricultural produce in a certified warehouse.
Government is aware of some of the challenges being faced by the small scale Farmers and SMEs in accessing finance due to the lack of certifiable collateral. Using the warehouse receipt as collateral through the commodity market initiative will provide farmers  with the leverage of accessing various forms of finance such as bank loans.
Mrs Wina said.
She added that the warehouse receipt is an opportunity for financial institutions to provide the much needed solutions for grain marketing and further create innovative instruments in partnership with LUSE for secondary trading.
Mrs Wina explained that the warehouse receipts can be traded over various financial institutions including LUSE and will provide a structured, transparent and efficient mechanism to drive trade within the country and abroad.
She retaliated governments’ efforts to promote private sector driven initiatives which are in line with its strategic objectives as outlined in the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP).