Agriculture and Livestock Minister Robert Sichinga has attributed the continued shortage of mealie meal in some part of the country insufficient milling capacity in provincial centres.
Mr Sichinga told parliament in a ministerial statement today that apart from Lusaka and the Copperbelt provinces, most provinces do not have sufficient milling capacity to satisfy the demand of mealie meal.
He explained most of the milling companies in Lusaka and Copperbelt have to meet their respective local demands before taking the surplus stock to outlying areas of the country.
Mr Sichinga further assured the nation that the country has sufficient maize stocks to last until the next harvest season.
He said he has called a meeting with millers to try and find ways of mitigating the shortage of mealie meal in some parts of the country.
Solwezi, Kasama and Chipata are some of the areas that have been hit by mealie meal shortages.
And Mr Sichinga says the FRA has sufficient maize reserves both for local consumption and export.
And Mr Sichinga says indications are that the 2012 / 2013 farming season is likely to yield above two million metric tonnes of maize.
He says assuming a total consumption requirement per year of 2.5 million metric tonnes; the country will have a shortfall of around 500 metric tonnes which he said will be met by the current carryover strategic reserves of around 500 metric tonnes.
Mr Sichinga has also revealed that more than 30 percent of the maize purchased annually by the Food Reserve Agency goes to waste.
QFM
Your explanation doesn’t hold water Mr. Sichinga. Can you then explain why there were no shortages before you came into power?
Sichinga that explanation makes no sense, during RB time we never had shortages has our population quadrupled in one year of PF misrule. Bob tell that crap to Muchinga Kolwestans
#1 Ricky & 1.1 Octupus, am very pleased that we can have sharp thinkers in the mid-of-the week. Did Sichinga answer?
You know what, one of his PF colleagues said shortage was because of shortage of electricity. These PF ine balampenya mwe.
Is this man normal! Did the population of Zambia grow such that in one year you guys can not even meal enough maize! Bob be real now you are sounding like CNP!
Choma Milling and other Millers in Southern Province should implement economic Sanctions on the rest of Zambia until Gary Nkombo is freed. Free Gary Now!!!
This guy can lie. What has changed in a year and half? Has the population of Zambia doubted or is it that Zambians are eating to much now? PF is full of bull*hit!
banana republic! these pf guys just give media statements without thinking, the other guy just said the cause was zesco blackouts..wowowo…
kaya…mwandi!
what a f.oolish excuse! what has happened to the milling capacity left by MMD? failure to identify a problem will just escalate the problem. what a lame excuse from a disgraced fellow. the problem is the shortage of maize grain. one day these foools will acknowledge this problem and will be ashamed monga mwana azinyela
Mr man why cant you just accept the fact that you have failled us rather than giving us such annoying statements, are trying to insinuate that MMD had more millers or maybe that in your own time population has increase to such an extend that millers cant handle it any more. Before everyone dies with hunger kindly seek HH the Economist for direction.
Can some serious NGO or any private media like Lusaka times,PostNewspapers pick up this “ministerial statement” investigate and inform us about the total number of milling compnies per province so that we judge for ourselves.otherwise mealie meal prices are just too high mwebantu twalafwa nakunu kwine ku kopala.waiting…
You sound like someone who knows what you are saying.I think you Can do something aout it.
Sichinga is now a real politician. Ubufi bweka bweka!!!
Please go back to the drawing board and come up with a better lie, not this one shaaa! Mr. Sichinga the bottom-line is that your government lacks the confidence of the business community. You are very incompetent managers. You don’t know what you are doing in government as PF. You can’t run a nation using cadres and not expect things without falling apart. So you are telling us that after you won the elections the milling capacity slumped. We we chipena! Mpunganye kweli! Just look at the national matrix indicators you will be surprised how you guys as PF have failed on all the vital national indicators.
Fellow Zambians do not comment on issues you do not understand.MMD also experienced mealie meal shortages around this time.There are two periods we call peak and non peak periods.During non peak period people mostly in rural areas have plenty of food other than Maize meal therefore demand is low.But during rain season there is less food and majority depends on maize meal.This push prices high sime Economics .
Under the late President Chiluba,the Govt THROGH corrupt elements imported maize meal from SA and sell cheaply to buy voters.Chani Fisheries was used to import Maize Meal into the country .Now that there is no corruption people wants to blame PF.Foolish Zambisns this is the time to establish business stop blaming the
govt.Dont not blame Asians when they take up your jobs
And what do you claim to know,did you hear of mealie meal shortages under levy or
RB?when chiluba and his henchman sata came up with the idea of chani fisheries mealie meal there was still abundant mealie meal in the shops theirs was a political tool that’s why millers complained.
Would $20,000 help?
This goat sichinga has always been like that,too many theories.he always wants to come out as a well refined economist yet he is as daft as diffikoti and bikiloni