The Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) this week rejected ZESCO’s application to increase electricity tariffs by an average of 26 percent. This happened during the ZESCO Public Hearing Meeting organized by the Energy Regulations Board (ERB) at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre (MICC) in Lusaka. Speaking on behalf of ZNFU, the first Vice President, Dr Evelyn Nguleka submitted that the move by ZESCO to increase tariffs would make Zambia’s agriculture products expensive and uncompetitive thereby driving farmers out of business. Dr Nguleka noted that arguments advanced by ZESCO for increasing tariffs such as the need to move to cost reflective tariffs, inflation, exchange rate movements, and investments were all not new. She said ZESCO should consider implementing other innovative means to cut down on costs.