Government has with immediate effect directed the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to offload appropriate quantities of maize on the market to stabilize the high mealie-meal prices in the country.
And government says Zambia has enough maize stocks to last up to February 2009.
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Brian Chituwo said this in his ministerial statement in Parliament , Thursday.
Dr. Chituwo said FRA will also facilitate the importation of another 100,000 metric tonnes of non-GMO maize into the country.
He said there was need for sensitize retailers to ensure food security at household levels and to discourage both small scale farmers and millers against hoarding the commodity at the expense of national development and security.
He stated that the rule of supply and demand is at play adding that the sky rocketing of the meali-meal prices is purely done by the producers and the millers.
The Minister said if need be, parliament has the powers to review the National Competition Commission ( NCC ) so that consumers are not exploited.
Dr. Chituwo said NCC’s role is that of advisory to government and to protect the consumers.
ZANIS/KC/ENDS/MM
I do hope prices stabilise….
So you had kept the maize while pipo are dying kunsala.awe mwalikosa imitima.Sorry guys ninfilwa ukulala.
nambala 2
#2
mmmhhh ba Matworld!!! did you say “Good night”???
Offbar niwe nambala fili, Matworld e nambala 2! Elo ine nine nambala folo. Efyo yaya.
Naimwe ba off bar mwacilanda gudnite bakamba!
Offbar and Chale say something on this article before tabalamiposelapo
Balumendo atishani? There’s a commercial break and I came to see the new headlines…uku sanga fye Matworld a scoopinga ama nambala wanu yonse.
Before I get condemned, let me say this is a good move by FRA. And it’s also good to hear that enough maize stocks to last up to 2009, tefyo?
Awe mwandini balumendo (Matworld and Nine Chale) mwabumba sana. Matworld I think we shall meet in town- I’m in Pretoria.
Plz twapapata ba Dr. Chituwo, abo ba pompwe will exploit Zambian people with the so-called “sky rocketing of the meali-meal prices”- mmmhhh!!! nice phrase, this guy is educated, he deserves to be a “Dr.”.
Off bar boyi am in pietermarizburg at University of kwazulu Natal ndecita Bcom.my email address is [email protected] will definately one day.
[Number thirteen 13]
This is good Dr Chituwo. Offload maize. Kansi even you you also understand the laws of supply and demand.
The maize stock is not enough. The rains have just started and maize which is grown now will only be ready in April 2009 for millers to buy it from farmers. I am not an economist but I can confidently say that the best thing to do is to allow business people to start importing maize or mealie meal now. Anything else is rubbish.We can not wait until all the stock is completely finished. Where is the bumper harvest gone? Some politicians must start engaging their brains.
This gvt is not genuine and honest.Those bags of maize are not enough. They are just left-overs from what Nyama soya was giving to poor people during october 30 elections.This is not a gvt of the people for the people but of Thugs for MMD and Banda.
Why import when you have been bragging of bumper harvests? i fail to understand. And why act now after Nawakwi has said so? you mean as a govt you didnt see that FRA was hoarding maize? by the way i liked teh way NAMBOARD was organised. we used to have maize collected in good time and those days it was southern province that had the largest number of graineries. Now came chiluba and every thing got LOST.
Good idea but I only hope the maize from FRA will not be abused.It may easily find its way into Congo I am telling you.
i you had voted me into plot 1. I was going to ban the growing of maize and force people to grow cassava. No meat only fish. Now continue eating maize meal with RB….
offbar you suck bra!!!
Yes there was the bumper harvest but Peter Magande decided to allocate less money to the FRA just to buy maize only enough for three months i.e February, March & April 2009. The rest of the bumper harvest found its way to the DRC. Remember Webby Chipili was caught with a Diplomatic Passport vending maize in DRC. The guy is even in caught for owing FRA ZMK175.0M. Now that Brian has ordered the pre-mature release of maize, lets brace ourselves for harder times come February! Why not buy from Mozambique where we heard Mugabe got cheaper maize?
Meant Webby is court
my, my, my, I have a smal family of 2 and I am sti complianing on the price of maize. y do these pipo owez wait for the worst to happen then react? Y r they never proactive? Zambia The Real Africa (ZTRA)
In the meantime, Millers Association of Zambia and the Grain Traders Association -I think- have been given authority to import tonnes and tonnes of non-GMO maize from Sou Thafrica. Why import if or when FRA has sufficient stocks of maize?
Hello Matworld(faimat), Nine Chale , offbar and Chewe. I ve followed your comments on the other page. Ala you are naughty.How are you guys? No comment on this topic though
wasap Baby C…!
#23 were exactly are u in Lsk?
Ba diaspora chabe bakonda anione anione…busy bragging with their over-sized fit stepping on foreign soil. Shame! Talking like they are the first ones to leave abroad for so many years. Blaming their lack on enteprenuership on everybody. Some of us stayed abroad for so long and we came back and established our thriving businesses. Opportunities are here for versatile minds especially if you are educated and not schooled. Hope you know the difference. Give us a break you ‘HOUSE NIGGAZ’ busy insulting your motherland just because your white master enables you to partake crumbs falling from his table. Be ashamed for being so ungrateful and disloyal to your ancestoral land
hey dog father! you r around?
Baby C answer the Q.
Are you a Gal Or a Dude?
Think of it am at Unza and i get K10,000 per day now hw can I buy food wit dat.It good dat Chituo iz nw ku agric.hope thing wil normalize.
Bauze!!!!
No. 18. Please dont use the name of the PF president on rubbish jokes. Sata,s name is perfectly right to sort out the current crisis in the country.
I am told the Govt has imported GMO (with help of Chiluba Team)
The only way to permanently lower prices is to increase production. Only 20% of arable land in Zambia is under cultivation, and only 3% is under permanent irrigation. Add to that 70% of the population living on less than $1 per day, and the answer is obvious.
We need labour intensive commercial scale organic farming. So what is keeping everyone or the government from doing just that?