The Grain Marketing Board of Zimbabwe (GMB) says it has been engaged by Zambia which wants to use the parastatal’s silos as storage facilities.
Speaking at GMB’s fourth annual general meeting last week, GMB acting general manager Lawrence Jasi said the company had excess capacity in silos that could be utilised by other players at a fee.
“We are also looking at it regionally, like in Zambia. Once we rehabilitate our silos, stakeholders get confidence in our silos they should be able to store their grain with us. The Food Reserve of Zambia approached us to store their grain,” Jasi said, adding that the confidence on the parastatal’s silos would generate revenue for the company.
He, however, could not give more details, saying the deal was in its early stages.
In an advertisement in June, GMB said it had excess storage facilities.
“The Grain Marketing Board offers grain storage space for hire at its concrete cylindrical silos and bag depots across the country, storage application forms are available at the nearest GMB depot. Terms, conditions and storage charges will be as per GMB storage contract,” it said.
At its peak in the 1990s, GMB used to keep 500,000 tonnes of grain in reserves annually.
At the moment, the silos do not have much.
This has been coupled by the inability of GMB to pay farmers their dues on time.
GMB owes farmers $35 million for last season and the new deliveries.
A number of farmers in Zimbabwe have resorted to growing tobacco as it was well-funded and paid more compared to maize, forcing the country to import maize.
GMB deputy general manager (Finance and Administration) Joe Muzurura said the board had been looking for funds, but the interest rates were prohibitive although they were now coming down.
More Maize donation to Zim, that’s what this is about.
@upnd cadre from ngombe
Rightly so!
Does it make economical sense to load & transport Maize all the way to Zim & pay for offloading at Zimbabwean silos? There after pay for loading, transport, offloading & packing back to Zambia. Unless thoses silos will be dismantled (if made of metal) & brought to Zambia I have no option but to suspect ‘foul play’ here. These are some of the deals Edgar cut in Jan 2015 with Mugabe for the latter’s political & financial support? Is this just a way of deliberately sucking money from GRZ by giving cadres transportation deals? If Zambia has a bumper harvest why not just allow farmers or GRZ to sale the excess?
Zambia is a cursed Country – losing the little you have amidst hunger & other economic quavers!
Exactly my thoughts too paying back Zim are we stupid to store bananas were monkeys live
How do you give a staving neighbor to look after your food. PF government is the most unbelievable of all governments on earth. SA wants the maize, why store when you can sell for cash?
This is the lowest Lungu and his PF f00ls can sink! Do they really believe that Zambians will buy their stupid idea of using Zimbabwean silos to store Zambia ‘s grain? Zambia has always been self sufficient in this aspect. Never in the history of Zambia has this stupid idea happened.
Lungu should say he is selling or paying the money he got for his presidential campaign and to ask for rigging logistics to help him win 2016 elections.This whole PF idea is nauseating and preposterous to say the least.
As Zambians ,we should not sink this low to accept such mediocrity.
Lungu and his PF are a bunch of f00ls with no plan thank you very much..
2016 please vote UPND and HH is the man to deliver Zambia from this PF madness.
Viva UPND, Viva HH , Viva GBM.
I can’t help using the word “*****” in power
So Zim will rehabilitate their silos and then rent them to Zambia [at a fee of course]. But Zambia can not rehabilitate our concrete silos we have here in Zambia like at Chisamba, Natuseko (Kabwe), Bwana mkubwa etc. That is PF for you.
Zambians need to be positive about their nation ,and look at the so many blessings God has given them .
Than just complaining all the time . Complaining is sin before God ungratefulness is evil .
When your freinds just near by don’t have food yet you have been favoured by God you still complain , God forbid don’t speak so foolishly about zambia
If you belong to those who worship satan zambia is not your home .
How? You mean Zimbabwe brings their silos to Zambia? Or you take Zambian maize to Zimbabwe? Either doesnt make sense
if we take the maize to zim we will never see it again
Had to double check to make sure it wasn’t 1st April joke. We are definitely becoming the regional laughing stock…what sensible government would compromise a nation’s food security in this manner?
Very suspicious indeed. What will be the cost of transporting that maize to Zim?. What benefit to Zambia will accrue from this transaction? Why store it in Zim when there are several private storage facilities in Zambia?Let Zim buy the maize and they can store it where ever they wish.
Beware FRA, Zimbabweans are difficult to work with. That maize will be lost due to contractual complications brought about by shrewd Zimbabweans changing goal posts. Even at Zambezi River Authority, positions are supposed to be shared 50% for each country, but all positions are occupied by Zimbos.
They have so much foolish pride with their crocodile accents.
even at my worst madness as boss i can never allow such a studity and foolish move to happen. any way thats paya farmer for you. PFOOLS
Zim is having a very huge maize deficit right now and there is hunger in that country. Taking our maize there will be terribly unimaginative of the PF guys. Only the brain of a hen can come up with a storage solution like that. The way we know PF and their machinations, there is more to this deal than meets the eye. We have the maize but do not have adequate storage. Zim has adequate storage but no maize. Solution for Zambia is to sell and for Zimbabwe is to buy.
Imwe this does not make sense! How can Zambia do this? Since when does a country store maize in another country? Does it make economic sense? Transport, storage costs etc! I think PF thinks they hoodwink the Zambians! Awe sure tavutika!
This is stupidity of the highest order!!!
Why should we store our food in Zimbabwe? Why can’t we rehabilitate our silos instead?
This stinks of corruption! Shame on FRA! Shame on PF!!!
THERE’S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH ZAMBIAN THINKERS AND WE DON’T NEED PSYCHIATRISTS TO DETERMINE THIS. FIRSTLY, WOULDN’T IT HAVE BEEN A GOOD PLAN TO ESTABLISH REALLY FULL FLEDGED MILLING PLANT ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO INCLUDE PROPER SILOS FACILITIES FOR EACH PLANT, RATHER THAN THE MAKE-SHIFT PLANTS AS SHOWN IN LT, SECONDLY, WHY ARE WE GOING TO PAY SO MUCH FOR LOGISTICS, STORAGE AND RELATED SERVICING WHEN THAT MONEY CAN BE USED TO CONSTRUCT SILOS-ES IN ZAMBIA?, THIRDLY, WHY CREATE EMPLOYMENT FOR ZIMBABWE?
Zambia could be a powerhouse in the region, but it is now the laughing stock of the entire Africa. There is absolutely nobody in this world as *****ic as Lungu and his cadres. He is so scared of Mugabe and Banda that he makes foolish excuses. He is trying to pave the way so Mugabe can send rebels to fight to keep lung in power. Fix Zambian silos or sell the maize and get rid of load shedding. My God, PF is stupid.
This story must be untrue, because if it is them I am dreaming or I am hallucinating. Surely it does not make any economic sense to have such a move. If this Government has money for transporting maize to Zim and later take it back, then they should rather start building a silo beginning now. So that in future we do not even think of such foolish moves.
Can someone tell me how much does it cost to transport 34 ton of maize from Zambia to Harare