State strategises on meal prices

THE low production of maize s what’s causing the high price of mealie meal on the market, Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Sangowayo Zyambo has said.

Mr Zyambo said once the production of maize was increased then the prices would automatically find their own equilibrium and become affordable. He said the government was planning putting up measures aimed at increasing the production of maize.

Mr Zyambo said some of the measures were to rid some policies that were frustrating farmers so that they could work hard and increase the production of maize.

Speaking on ZNBC’s Sunday Interview programme Mr Zyambo said the country only produced what was required in the last farming season/.

So, the private sector was rushing to get a share of the commodity.

Private buyers were attracting farmers by offering to buy the grain at higher prices. ‘However, for them to recover the cost it is resulting into high mealie meal prices.

“The long-term solution to the mealie meal prices is for farmers to increase their production of maize in the country. Once this is done then the problem of high mealie meal prices will be a thing of the past,” Mr Zyambo said.

He said Government was, however, in discussions with players in the sector to reduce the prices of mealie meal.

“We know as Government that maize is a staple food in the country. We shall endeavour, therefore, to ensure that it is affordable to all the Zambian people,” he said.

Mr Zyambo said apart from low maize production the pulling out of large scale farmers had setback in the agriculture industry due to unpredictable policies.

“We have had a series of meetings with farmers and all players in the sector where we have identified what is causing the problem in the agricultural industry and one of them is the market distortions which have been caused by untimely intervention by the food reserve agency,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Zyambo says the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) Act is under review to resolve the current market distortions once and for all.

He said Government was also looking at alternative ways of cushioning the prices of mealie meal.

Mr Zyambo said Government was aware of the fact that the traditional way of offloading maize on the market through FRA had failed.