By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
THE Government is already subsidising the prices of maize occasionally offloaded by the Food Reserve agency (FRA) and has no immediate plans to further subsidise the staple food prices.
Agriculture and Livestock Minister Given Lubinda said the current maize subsidy through the FRA were adequate for now.
Recently, the Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) appealed to Government to reintroduce subsidies on fuel and maize to help cushion the impact of the high prices of mealie-meal.

. Lubinda

Mr Lubinda told journalists in Lusaka that for now the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) would continue selling maize at K76 per 50 kilogramme bag which was already subsidised given that the agency procured the same bag at K70.
“Let me hasten to say that even at K76, when we bought the maize from the farmer at K70 and we bought it in July/August/September of last year, if you add the cost of transporting that maize from the farmer to our warehousing, if you add to that the cost of handling maize, you add the cost of fumigation, you add the cost of capital because we paid the farmer, which can come to more than K100,” Mr Lubinda said.
He said Government was already subsidising the price of maize, but that the actual direct reduction had not been done, adding that the matter was under discussion.
“If there will be any need to subsidise further Zambians will be informed, because if I am going to subsidize maize prices to the miller whose money am I using? Tax payers’, so we have to inform them,” he said.
He said Government negotiated with millers for them to effect the recent mealie-meal prices and that it was not as though Government had imposed the new prices as some people were insinuating.
Mr Lubinda  said that millers were still buying maize from FRA at K76, but that he just appealed to them to reduce the price of mealie-meal, meaning that the millers would make less profit than they used to.
Mr Lubinda said he appealed to the traders to respond likewise by passing on the benefit to the consumer, some of which have not done so, which was an unfortunate.
“There are some traders who are also enjoying the reduction in the wholesale price of mealie meal instead of passing it to the consumer they are keeping that to themselves, which is very unfortunate.
“If you remember I did state that traders must not increase the price of mealie meal from wholesale price by more than K3, because all traders make a profit at K3, so Government is not losing any money because of that,” he said.