Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:28:44 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
GOVERNMENT should immediately cancel the deal with grain traders which is providing maize to some millers at a subsidised rate because it is not benefiting the consumers, yet draining national coffers, the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) has charged.
ZNFU president Jervis Zimba told the Daily Nation yesterday that there were people within the corridors of power who were misinforming President Lungu by presenting to him false proposals which only benefitted a few individuals as was the case with millers.
Mr. Zimba said while the Ministry of Agriculture had listed 78 millers to receive subsidised maize to lower the price of mealie-meal across the country, only 12 had been considered.
He said while Government saw it plausible to partner with grain traders to help millers through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) access maize cheaply, another problem had been created as only a few selected millers were benefiting and not the primary target-the consumers.
He warned that if the other millers that were incurring high costs of production due to the selective process by the ministry decided to stop producing, the country would be in serious mealie meal shortages, hence the need to cancel the agreement because it was only aimed at enriching a few millers who had continued to sell mealie meal at high prices despite the cushion.
“We are aware that there are people who are misinforming the president by coming up with wrong decisions to benefit a few individual milling companies. We are also aware that out of 78 milling companies which were listed by the Ministry of Agriculture, only 12 were approved as beneficiaries of this maize agreement.
“While Government may be thinking that it is solving the problem of high mealie meal prices, it does not realise that it is creating another bigger problem because if this continues, these companies which are not cushioned will shut their operations and this will lead to a serious mealie meal shortage. This is why we are saying this agreement should be cancelled as it is not serving any purpose,” Mr. Zimba said.
He said it was wrong for Government to stress the treasury by giving maize to a few companies, yet effects of such initiatives did not trickle down to the consumers.
He also said Government’s decision to buy an additional 220 metric tonnes of maize from the private sector was unnecessary and has appealed to Government to allow FRA to export all the maize stocks in its reserves in preparation for the coming maize marketing season.
“If Government had listened to stakeholders, this wastage would not have been there. We advised that there was no need to buy the 220 tonnes of maize from the private sector but we were not given a listening ear and the country ended up losing about US $60 million dollars.
“I think political interference in the sector is making the country fail to make any progress in agriculture. The private sector should be given room to regulate itself,” he said.
