20 November 2008
THE Food Reserve Agency (FRA) is ready to offload more than 100,000 tonnes of maize onto the market to bring down mealie meal prices immediately the Government directs it to do so, board chairman, Costain Chilala has said.
Mr Chilala said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the FRA had more than 140,000 tonnes of maize in its reserves but would only release it after the Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture makes the decision.
"We are waiting for a directive from our parent ministry which is currently consulting with the millers and other stakeholders. We have about 140,000 tonnes to 170,000 tonnes of maize in the strategic reserves," Mr Chilala said.
The Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) recently said that Zambia would have a maize deficit of about 100,000 tonnes to bridge the country to the next harvest.
Mr Chilala said the FRA believed that millers still had some maize in stock and would wait for the Government audit on the availability of stocks.
The Government through the ministry of Agriculture recently started issuing permits to millers and other traders for the importation of white maize.
But MAZ president, Caleb Mulenga said in an interview in Lusaka on Tuesday that although the Government had finally allowed maize imports, the cost of mealie meal would rise even higher because of the depreciation of the Kwacha.
Mr Mulenga said the Government should direct the FRA to offload maize onto the market or alternatively introduce subsidies on mealie meal produced from the imported maize so that consumers could get reasonable prices.
He said the depreciation of the Kwacha had a huge negative impact on the prices of the mealie meal from the imported maize warning that the mealie meal would be expensive at about K70, 000 per 25 kilogramme bag of breakfast if millers were to make profit.
Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) president, Edith Nawakwi on Monday advised the Government to direct the FRA to release the maize held in strategic reserve to check the rising prices of mealie meal.
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