President Edgar Lungu has assured Zambians that government is closely monitoring the mealie meal prices and will not condone anyone, whether trader or miller, to take advantage of the anticipated food security threats by exploiting Zambians through unwarranted hiking of mealie meal prices.
And President Lungu has called on all the farmers to sell their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in order for government to beef up its national strategic reserves.
The Head of State has emphasised that the country has sufficient maize stocks to meet both industrial and human consumption.
Speaking when he officiated at the ground breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction works on the Chiansi irrigation project in Chanyanya, Kafue district, Tuesday, the Head of State said the irrigation project could not have come at a more appropriate time than now.
“We can not take climate change lightly as it is threatening the livelihoods of farmers and national food security and ultimately, the growth of the agriculture sector.
“Therefore, my government’s decision to introduce irrigation schemes across the country would boost productivity in the agriculture sector thereby enhancing food security at household and national levels.
“In the 2018/2019 agriculture season, the country experienced prolonged dry spells especially in the southern half of the country. This affected the production of most crops and livestock. All this is due to climate change which requires concerted efforts to combat,” said President Lungu.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has assured the Southern and Western parts of the country which are the most affected by the shortfall in maize supply that government is doing everything possible to address the situation.
“My government will not allow a situation where the affected people have no access to maize and mealie meal supply. As such, we are currently distributing relief food to the affected hunger stricken areas.”
President Lungu says it is misplaced to politicize the issue of mealie meal prices as the matter affects every Zambian regardless of their political affiliation.
Meanwhile, the Head of State has announced that the Chiansi Irrigation Infrastructure Development Project has potential to irrigate up to 1,800 hectares of land and will benefit up to 1,000 households.
And President Lungu has expressed gratitude to the Royal Netherlands Government and the British Government for providing financial support for the Chiansi project.
“In addition to this, the private sector has made a commitment to invest in the expansion of this irrigation scheme to grow up to 8,000 hectares of sugar Cane and create at least 400 jobs.
“This development is a clear demonstration of what can be achieved when there is close collaboration between government, cooperating partners and the private sector,” said the President.
Bwana Lungu the last economic survey said that agriculture & forestry shrunk by 15.3 % so where’s the maize gonna come from?
I believe the president here.
I have a PhD
Thanks
BB2014,2016
How come njala ili che mu UPND strong holds? You can tell when you watch the Prime TV( UPND Mouth Piece) that all this hunger and starvation nonsense is fake and stage managed!!
THE MILLERS ARE STEALING MAIZE MONEY THROUGH V.A.T. REFUNDS.
Its a scheme where Nillers are buying Maize at K150.00 per 50 Kg bag from the public. the Millers are raising GRN at K128.00 without V.A.T. they in turn claim the V.A.T. refund on of K22 per bag from ZRA.
we all know that maize is zero rated but ZRA refunds them in Billions.
ACC want evidence? Wake up
But when are you going to pay local contractors who have stayed for 1 year without pay.Mr. President, people are suffering, those who are pretending to be loyal to you are not telling you the truth.Once again, people are suffering.
Really laughable….he this thinks he is a spectator at Heroes stadium…what a dull chap!!
He went to Kafue just to witness how a horse pipe is used…………….kikikikikiki………………..I do not see any modern irrigation system in the pictures apart from a horse pipe.
Aba bena is the joke of the century.
OUR SALARIES REMAIN THE SAME MEALIE MEAL IS 120K WHAT ARE U STILL MONITORING THINGS ARE ALREADY OUT OF HAND. ACTIONS BWANA WORDS ARE BUT WIND
Irrigation with a hose pipe…mamama… now the confusion and lack of direction is clearly displayed, for all to see.
But there will still be blind people singing and dancing….
Good morning Mr. President we know Adolf is still reeling from the knockout punch that the Great bag of Maize unleashed on him after assuring him he was in the chairman’s shadow for keeps. But a word of advise you don’t water crops with a hose pipe you collect water in a bucket or drum and then water the crops….hose pipes are for lawns and short term use….water is life conserve it!
We can’t even experience hunger if the country was serious.Northern region can be a hub of food bucket. we can’t even experience load shedding,it can be a thing of the past if we invested also in northern region.We don’t just think in this country.How do u experience hunger when six provinces had rainfall?. Empower northern region farmers with small tractors.It’s hard to keep animals in luapula,North western,northern and luapula due to tsetse-flies.I’ts like we are cursed.Why taking everything in southern where it doesn’t rain when you have 7 months rainfall in luapula,Muchinga,North Western and northern provinces?Electricity can be source of revenue in Zambia if govt had technocrats who were not biased.We have to thank God for what he has given this country.There is no…
logical thinking mr moscow(op), zambezi and kafue rivers where these hydro power generation plants are situated are fed by tributary rivers that originate from areas that had enough rainfall , many questions if we are currently experiencing low water levels in dams where we get power from, where do all the water go to? and dont cheat people its on record during campaigns we are told if people want development they should vote for a ruling party candidate, i guess with opposition mps that side what everything has been taken to southern province?
worst president in the world, I see that dog Sharon escaped from jail… or the dog pound
If surely Zambia has enough maize for stocks why meal – meal price is increasing to K120 per 25kg ..? If that’s the case how many people will manage to buy meal at this amount hence people affected by this food shortage live below poverty line..?
People want the truth Mr.president .Its looks like like government under ministry of Agriculture is not attached with relevant players like Millers association of Zambia etc including FRA.
If feel government should regulate and intervene in meal – meal prices although it will sound so unbecoming even to some stakeholders but just to help the underclass let it be…
Monitoring is not enough, stop loitering around the country and do some actual work in the state house. Maybe you can come up a solution if you sit done for a bit.
……so says the person who doesn’t even buy mealie meal…..
Probably speaking off the cuff as usual naimwe, what’s the mata with you?
People in DRC are surviving without growing a single crop of maize, none have been reported dead since 1962. Why cant Zambians do the same instead of blaming a hardworking President?
In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It postulates that, holding all else equal, in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good, or other traded item such as labor or liquid financial assets, will vary until it settles at a point where the quantity demanded (at the current price) will equal the quantity supplied (at the current price), resulting in an economic equilibrium for price and quantity transacted.
In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It postulates that, holding all else equal, in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good, or other traded item such as labor or liquid financial assets, will vary until it settles at a point where the…
cont…
the quantity demanded (at the current price) will equal the quantity supplied (at the current price), resulting in an economic equilibrium for price and quantity transacted. Follow link below ba Govt and refresh your bongo bongo
Why is my comment awaiting moderation?????
The less the supply and the more the number of people willing to pay for goods at a given price, the higher the price. There is no 2 ways about this
It is for this reason that Zambia as a country is not supposed to be exporting maize to anywhere with out ensuring that there is enough for everyone at home