Chinkuli Multipurpose Co-operative Society (CMCS) in Chongwe District of Lusaka Province is offering K 80 per 50 Kg bag of maize to its members aimed at encouraging them to continue growing the crop.
Chinkuli Multipurpose Co-operative Solar Society chairperson Peter Miti said his organisation has decided to intervene in the ongoing marketing season by offering attractive price for maize as a way of rewarding its members for producing the crop.
Mr. Miti stated that this development has prompted farmers to sale their produce to the cooperative.
“Honourable Minister, these developments have delighted our co-operators and we would like your office to convey this wonderful message to our beloved President Edgar Chagwa Lungu for his visionary leadership. Our cooperative has also worked out a plan to help our members by offering K 80 per 50 Kg bag of maize,’” he revealed.
Mr. Miti pointed out that the attractive price of K 80 per 50 Kg bag of maize has given the milling plant enough stock and in turn increased the share capital because farmers are also buying shares promptly.
This came to light when Lusaka Province Minister Japhen Mwakalombe who is also Chongwe Member of Parliament commissioned the Chinkuli Multipurpose Co-operative Solar Powered Milling Plant Project in the outskirts of Chongwe District.
And Lusaka Province Minister Japhen Mwakalombe said the presidential solar milling plants project is designed to stabilize and lower the price of mealie meal to less than K 50 by lowering the cost of production, and with the efficiency of the milling plants.
Mr Mwakalombe said the ongoing installation of the presidential solar milling plants across the country has enhanced the diversification and value addition in the agriculture sector.
Mr Mwakalombe added that the aim of the presidential solar milling plants programme is to make diversification a reality, create more jobs and value addition in the agriculture sector as outlined in the Patriotic Front (PF) party manifesto.
The Lusaka provincial minister explained that President Edgar Lungu’s initiative of the solar hammermills for maize, cassava and rice is meant to encourage the co-operatives to enhance value addition to their produce.
“Chongwe District has so far a total of 18 solar powered milling plants installed in 19 wards. The presidential initiative is designed to stabilize and lower the price of mealie meal to less than K 50 by lowering the cost of production, and with the efficiency of the milling plants, this is tenable, “he said.
“Despite challenges faced in the domestic front the economy is resilient and the government under the wise leadership of our President Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu has committed to ensure that diversification objectives are attained.”
Mr Mwakalombe further explained that the presidential initiative is undeniably key in improving people’s livelihoods as it addresses all the sustainability elements of job creation, uplifting of social standards, food security, revenue creation, environmental protection, use of alternative energy sources.
Chongwe has a total number of 256 registered co-operatives throughout the district
Chongwe District Commissioner Fraser Musonda, Chongwe Municipal Council Mayor Geoffrey Chuumbwe and other senior government officials attended the launch.
Yes, put those brief case crooks at FRA to shame!!
Way to go
Sounds more reasonable.
Very, very good move and highly commendable! Well done to this multipurpose cooperative! A bag of 25kg roller is K75 a bag of maize is being bough at K60 by these sadistic brief case maize buyers and FRA have been part of the scenerio with their fake floor price!Dollar Siliza has failed the farmers and should be sacked as this terrible decision with the floor price has and will cost PF a lot of votes come 2021! The Roan by election will be the test I have been saying this but people at the top don’t want to listen! Politics is about food and money, the main activity for most Zambians is farming-take their money away and you will have problems! HH is a non factor compared to the maize floor price!
The President has been quoted as declining to interfere in fixing the price of maize but here the price offered by the buyer is linked to his “wisdom”. Phew!
Jay Jay: brilliant. Let them be ashamed. This is the beauty part of a liberal economy. This is nice
Hopefully it is true because with the pathetic liars (PF) everything they do is crooked
@JJ wants high price or low price for the people? UPND is a sorry excuse of a party! Hazaluza Hagain! It is time to recall all MPs from the clan to move a motion of creation of Namwala Chiefdom and then elect HH as a chief there. He can now become like Chief Chitimukulu, Mpezeni, Lewanika, Nkana, Kazembe as Chief of Namwala! That is what can befit him! He should and will never be allowed to be in Lusaka as president! He is an Under Five. He thinks like a clan!
The next day you’ll read that it was not true that a cooperative is buying maize at that price. Ni PF iyi. Hahahaha!
Not the PF way.
If you dig deeper you will discover that Lazy Lungu and Dora’s companies are the ones procuring the maize and selling it to East Africa in that lucrative $100 million deal..oh how I miss investigative journalism in Zambia!!
Kenya here we come again.Please buy our maize directly from Chongwe and cut off this corrupt PF regime from the deal.
It cannot be true that all ruling party in government are corrupt. The problem in Africa is that there is too much paying attention to the opposition
This is a media propaganda to create news in every country.
K80 per bag is a UPND propaganda in the Chongwe UPND stronghold.
The only problem is that most PF members are strong physically but week intellectually.
Am confused as 2020 says a 25 kg bag of roller costs 75 kr when millers are buying at 60 kwacha so please explain how you decrease the price of mealie meal below 50kr per 25 kg bag when you are buying the maize at 80 kr figures dont seem to add up. Ok its solar but there are still labour, superznnuatiin costs and packaging and transport.costs
A 50 kg of maize will produce more than 50 kg of mealie meal. There are also other products after the mealie meal that follow such as stock feeds.
Sorry, I could not read further than the “visionary leadership part” and keep straight face. Hehehe
@Masalamuso, a 50 kg bag of maize produces 2 by 25 kg bags if maize. If sold at K75, a 50 kg bag of maize would give you 2 by 25 kg bags of roller meal. But currently a 25 kg bag oh breakfast is about K 65 at National Milling company. How can roller meal cost more?
A company is buying maize at 70 kwacha for 50 kg bag in my farm block. They seem to want to beat the rotten FRA
Thanks john chinena figures just didnt look good.you are increasing the purchase price but reduceing thecretail price. Normally if you increase the input cost then the finished product should cost more not less
that’s the most ridiculous thing I have heard today. no wonder parastatals fail. a business must be managed on business principles not political considerations. I assume all those praising this socialist idea never lived through this UNIP type of economics.
The Cooperative has set the market maize price so FRA should match that price failing which No farmer will sell his/her maize at a loss. K80 per 50kg is the market price and not this uneconomic K60 per 50kg. The market should shun FRA and they will eventually match the market price of K80 per 50kg. Period. Market forces will prevail whether FRA wants It or not
Ndajne sorry but i dint know how something weighing 50kg produces more than 50 kg… production will reduce or equal surely. But you are still missung the point at 60kr a bag equals 75kr after production so at 30% more at buying price canno reduce the selling price of finished product by 18 % doesnt make sense
Maize bag pricing
Farmer 1 x 50Kg K80 TOTAL K80
Consumer 2 x 25Kg K50 TOTAL K100
Miller Profit 2 x 25Kg K10 Total K20
With Solar Plants (Cut-off Miller) price of 25Kg mealie meal can be as low as K41 in Chongwe.
WELL DONE PF!
And K32 in Dundumwezi . . . . hahahaha
Zambia Chipolopolo. Next season inputs of seeds and fertilizer even cheaper. OMG!
Dragon kasama so he buys at 80kr and two bags at 41 per bag equals 82 kr, so he pays all his costs and profit out out of 2 kwacha good manager of money and 32 kw at dundumwezi that means he buys at 80kw and sells for 62 after processing kwik way to dununa reverse to bankruptcy