Reducing the Cost of Mealie Meal in Zambia
It is without doubt that strides towards reducing the cost of mealie meal have been made by the Patriotic Front (PF) government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. Recently, the government through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) offloaded maize onto the domestic market at a discounted price of K65 from the previous price of K76 per 50kg bag in an attempt to influence reduction in mealie meal prices. Government has also held negotiation meetings with milling companies to see how best this can be actualized.
Citizens were highly expectant when the government announced that this would lead to a reduction in mealie meal prices by K4 even though marginal. This is also at the backdrop of a 2014 maize bumper harvest that Zambia experienced. Despite these measures, the expected price reduction has not been fully realized. The JCTR’s Basic Needs Basket for Lusaka for March 2015 shows an increase in average mealie meal prices by K1.15 per 25kg bag. According to the JCTR’s Basic Needs Basket Mpika and Luanshya are two other towns that have also recorded an average increase of mealie meal prices of K6.04 and K0.38 respectively. In some areas, mealie meal prices have remained static. For instance in Chipata, Chinsali and Kasama prices still averaged K81, K80 and K74.60 per 25Kg bag respectively. In Livingstone, Choma, Kitwe and Mansa mealie meal prices have slightly reduced from the previous month of February by K1.08, K2.38, K1.32 and K2.05 respectively.
The JCTR is concerned about the current state of mealie meal prices and the cost of living in general. The cost of living for the month of March 2015 as measured by JCTR’s Basic Needs Basket (BNB) for an average family of five living in Lusaka is K3, 797.55. This shows an increase of K29.87 as compared to February’s BNB which stood at K3, 767.68. The increase in the BNB is mainly attributed to the increase in prices of the following food items; Beans and Beef which increased by K11.61 and K3.00 respectively. In contrast, other commodities showed decrease in price namely, Charcoal, Tomatoes and Vaseline.
The JCTR would like to appeal to government to implement comprehensive package of measures that will effectively address the high cost of living in general and the high mealie meal prices in particular. Government should for instance speed up the setting up of milling plants in rural areas and also offer incentives to local business entrepreneurs to set up milling plants. This will not only result in mealie meal price reduction but promote local business ownership and sustainability. Government must also work with various stakeholders towards reviewing and diversifying the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) to make it more efficient in reaching the intended beneficiaries-the poor and guaranteeing that the Programme indeed achieves its purpose of poverty reduction.
The story in a sentence…..’fintu fya lungula’
…Lungu si vintu. Nindeka ukunwanwanwa
FEAR is another tactic that the Christian church uses and, unfortunately, they use it well. Christians are taught that the Bible is the “word of God” and that they have the only truth. Anything that disagrees with the Bible and/or their denomination’s interpretation of the Bible is a deception. For example, all other religions are a deception. The scientific theory of biological evolution is a deception. If it does n’t agree with the Bible, it is a demonic deception designed to keep us from believing the Bible and therefore being “saved”. According to the Church, you must believe their way or you have displeased God and are going to Hell forever to be tormented for eternity with no hope of reprieve. The Hell doctrine is nothing more than a heinously cruel fear tactic that has been used…
Religion is a purely political construct and operates on the political agenda: people + money = power. If you look at the Roman Catholic Church, all its made up rules fit into that equation; they took the things of God and used them for political gain. The Roman Catholic Church is the Roman feudal system which began by a small group of people (Bishops) deciding to set up Kings (they decided who) and these Kings were the Bishops pawns. Lol, true. Then people from within the peasant class ‘serfs’ could become ‘someone of respect’ and be a tax collector for the bishops treasury i.e. priests for the Vatican. So families backed this up 100% and you will see that Catholic priests all had a very strong ‘mummy’ figure who encouraged them to be a ‘someone’ in the church. ‘Ordinary’ people were…
…….‘Ordinary’ people were tortured to death in front of the town if they didn’t comply with the demands of the feudal system – that message went way deep and is still having its affect today i.e. don’t think, just obey. It is helped of course that this heinous abuse is presented to them as God’s word. No wonder people run from God in their droves. God gets a lot of bad press; he gets blamed for the evils of religion. But God is not, never was and never will be, religious. Jesus’ only message was that of the Kingdom and that God loves us.
When you look at the universe, it is run on strict mathematical principles that can be so surely calculated that we know exactly what will happen to the planets and when. It has been done for thousands of years and it is still being done.
You’re right on some things but wrong on others. Don’t look to the RCC has a harbinger of biblical teachings. They’re corrupt just like the religious leaders in Jesus’ time. Compare the life of Jesus and his apostles to that of the Pope, his Cardinals, bishops and the like, as far away as the North is from the South pole.
God is love so he can’t punish people eternally in hellfire. It doesn’t agree with the concept of love.
Daisy,keep this rubbish to yoursel.Discuss the issue at hand.What is wrong with you? This is what you believe.Whatever you wrote came from what you read,authored by someone else.Now,you want to assume authority.. are you a student? It seems ,wait untill you face the real world. You cannot spite religion. ..Well Pf must ask KK regarding this issue..he even issued coupons at one time.