BY JUDITH NAMUTOWE –

THE Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF) has commenced the production of mealie meal at one of the  first three solar-powered milling plants in North-Western Province.
This follows installation of the machine in Solwezi. Two others are currently being installed in Northern Province.
ZCF director general James Chirwa confirmed the development in an interview in Lusaka yesterday.
“The federation has started producing mealie meal under the company dubbed Cooperative Milling Holding Limited. As I am speaking, about 50 by 25 kilogramme bags of mealie meal have been produced,” Mr Chirwa said.
Three of the 200 first batch of the solar-powered milling pants arrived in the country from China a fortnight ago by air.
Mr Chirwa said the federation expected that the remaining batches of machinery, which had been loaded, for onward shipping would be arriving in the country by end of October this year.
He said the federation opted that the remaining batches of machinery should come by ship as it was costly to air lift them.
The project emerged from the Presidential Milling Initiative in which a contract was signed with China for the purchase of the milling plants aimed at addressing the price of mealie-meal in the country.
About 4,000 milling machines for primary cooperatives are expected to be installed in most parts of the country following the sourcing of the US$20 million initial payment by the federation.
The next consignment would be installed in Southern Province.
“So right now technicians are currently on the ground installing the last two milling plants of the first batch that arrived in the country recently,” Mr Chirwa said.
Mr Chirwa said the bringing in of the solar-powered milling plants would ignite development within rural areas around the country.
He said the federation expected that the company would be producing about 10,000 tonnes of mealie meal per day, upon installation of the 2000 milling plants across the country.