Friday, March 29, 2024

MAZ not to blame for high mealie meal prices

Share

People in a queue for Mealie meal at National milling in kabwe
File:People in a queue for Mealie meal at National milling in kabwe

The Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) says it is not to blame for the high mealie meal prices in the country.It has instead attributed the increase in mealie meal prices to high transportation costs from the production point of the commodity to the market.
MAZ President Allan Sakala told Qfm in an interview that transporters are overcharging mealie meal traders to transport the product to various parts of the country.

Mr. Sakala explained that most milling companies are situated in urban areas, hence traders buying the mealie meal are incurring additional costs to transport the commodity to rural areas.

Mr. Sakala noted that for as long as the cost of transportation continues to increase, the price of Mealie Meal will also continue escalating.

He said the best way to address the escalating mealie meal prices is by addressing price of fuel.

He however lamented that it is the poor Zambians who are being affected by the increase in the price of Mealie Meal.

Mr. Sakala has since appealed to people to buy Mealie Meal from traders who are contracted by the Millers stating that their prices are controlled.

He also appealed to government to consider reintroducing subsidies on fuel and maize to help cushion the impact of the high prices of mealie meal.

25 COMMENTS

  1. We just hope we are not going back to 1985 and 1990s were we used to line up for basic food and commodities that we can easily glow and produce in our country using our hands and some machinery from overseas, that is sugar, mealie meal, salad and cement. God help us as we fall short of planning and thinking in our mother land ZAMBIA the great ZAMBIZI.

    • You do realise there was an article done on the life expectancy and eating solidified cob lump you call Mealie meal

      WHy the government doesn’t use their clout to educate the unwashed masses on alternatives like Rice, just sweet potatoes (which i am told you have for breakfast , sadly) or even potatoes is beyond me

      Yes it is cheaper and you following on from your ancestors but that doesn’t mean it is right to rely on what almost knocked me when i ate a lot of it, whilst in Zambia in February.
      Let me put it in simple english. It is not healthy to eat and rely on Nshima everyday.

      The impact of it being more expensive or cheaper should not make headline news, see where I coming from?
      Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity…

    • some people yaba!! how they wish and dream to be white,,, there is nothing with zambians eatng nshima everyday,,,the chinese eat rice everyday,,, indians eat chapati everyday!!!

      PF has just fail period!! but Zed napo yaba look at that guy in the picture exposing his dirty armpits to bags of mealie meal which are supposed to be eaten by people

    • Perhaps setting up a few milling companies in rural areas would help alleviate the situation if the blame is put on high transportation costs. Among other benefits this has is that it will create jobs for the locals.

    • How come the issue of transportation costs and mealie meal high prices did not come up when MMD was ruling during the past 20 years??? How come the mealie meal prices have become exorbitant only now??? Does it have anything to do with the economic policies of the PF- led government???

    • @ Mushota “the perpetual nincompoop”

      going by the english you have used it appears you racist muzungu invalid wrote this for you, no wonder he forgot the silly “Thanks” sign-off.

  2. Mr. Sakala explained that most milling companies are situated in urban areas, hence traders buying the mealie meal are incurring additional costs to transport the commodity to rural areas…. He said the best way to address the escalating mealie meal prices is by addressing price of fuel.
    You are wrong, Mr Sakala… Why should we be trnasporting mealie meal from urban areas to the rural areas? We should set up milling plants in rural areas instead! Is that not where the raw material (maize) is produced? If so, why then do you want to pay for trnasportation to and from the rural areas?

    • Milling plants can only be set-up in the rural areas if you provide electricity. Look at the state of most districts in Zambia, access to electricity is a luxury.

    • Millers are business men working hard to make money for themselves. They prefer setting up plants in urban centers where there is ready business for their products. Stop yapping!

    • Pipo why show al village manners where you want to tel evrybody tht your mum bought u a new ni***ca?jst talk about topic nt wat u ar doing or where you are.rubish

  3. Aaaah!! SO wonderful seeing this man’s picture. I recall him carrying mealie meal and stockfeed for me on numerous occasions

  4. It is not only mealie prices that have gone up. If u carefully analyze the economy of my mother Zambia were PF promised more money in ur pockets, today suger is bought at K17 per 2 kg 25kg bf at K72 25kg rm at K55, cegatrates at K1 transport to various destinations has gone up by 30%. Levy regima sold break fast at k38.5 per 25kg at cairo shoprite and roller meal at k23.5 per 25kg while Banda sold bf at K45 per 25kg and k38 per 25kg of roller and panga family is selling at there own mad prices

  5. Ba Mushota,
    Mwalaba apapene, you where brought eating nshima, not long again. Just going to Scottland, mulefwaya, muchinge, We all leave out side the Zambia, but we don’t ponta, like you. Nimwe ba chifita, you still remaining with your roots in Zambia. I pity your parents. Shame.

  6. Mealie meal will always be expensive if you dont deliver the inputs early or in time. people in the rural areas are seeing through the lies of being supported by the government with subsidized inputs. in the end they fail to make profit so most of them are turning to tobacco and other crops. do a survey and find out if we are increasing the hectarage under maize per year. also the other indicator is if we’ve commercial farmers growing maize for eating? most of them use maize as an input for something else such as feed for animals. they know the maize cycle does not an will not give them the profit they want. we have perpetuated poverty for the farmers in the name of food security instead of looking at the opportunity cost of growing say soya beans. as for me i buy maize not growing it.

  7. What Mr Sakala is saying is not true. is Kitwe in the rural area? just bought mealie meal at K78 last week in ndeke. transport is not an issue. kambani vinangu tizamvela malume.

  8. That price is nothing for people with ‘MORE MONEY IN THEIR POCKETS’, I wonder why Sakala was even wasting time lamenting.

  9. @Mushota

    Please do not mock and forsake the humble background that you grew up in. Remember your roots for you shall have to come back home some time. If ever, God forbid your husband/lover should die, there will be no one to call your own.

    @nbondo

    Please do not make fun of a poor, hardworking man trying to earn a descent living. He may not have access to water to bathe with. See how many bags he has loaded on his head. I doubt if you are half the man he is.

  10. I think the Millers Association should give us another reason other than that of fuel because to the best of my knowledge fuel hasn’t been increased yet. Why is he avoiding the hard truth that mealie-meal is expected to be high because the law of supply and demand is at play. I feel most people have by now run out of maize stocks hence the high demand compared to low supply.

    I also want to conquer with the blogger who suggested that we need to “diversify” our eating habits. Honestly this mentality of depending on one product, e.g copper for exports and maize for food makes us vulnerable and will cost us heavily one day. In fact, the Zambian people are living dangerously because its easier to be manipulated by anyone and this is where i think we need focused leadership.

  11. MAZ is perpetuating the story of the plunder of our minerals; they take the maize from the rural farmer and wheel them thousands of kilometers to a mill after which they wheel them back to be bought by the hapless peasants who actually produced the kernels. Isn’t this just classic!? How about investing in milling systems within accessible distance radius of the consumer? Then we will mitigate this nonsense of crying for subsidies. Perhaps some of the Eurobond must go to establishing exactly that!

  12. THIS MUSHOTA MAKES ME FAIL TO UNDERSTAND WHY IS ALWAYS ON DA FOOLS’ SIDE OPPOSING ALMOST EVY PART OF REALITY

  13. Asakala even in town what u call urban areas mealie meal is expensive. We were used in Mwanawasa it was at 28 and in RB 38 but now 80 plus in the promised land with Moses in control.

  14. What are the prices for Bread, sugar, mealie-meal and 1kg for meat. It seems am getting it all wrong and confused it seems k78 for mealie is not true. Do you mean k78,000? or is it k 78 because that is less than $1 and if is less than a dollar then am like why are you guys complaining?

Comments are closed.

Read more

Local News

Discover more from Lusaka Times-Zambia's Leading Online News Site - LusakaTimes.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading