By Austin Kaluba –
It is heartening to note that Government has assured the nation that the price of Zambia’s staple food mealie meal will not be increased.
Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Chishimba Kambwili explained that the fundamentals in the production line of the staple food have remained unchanged to warrant a price hike in mealie meal.
Mr Kambwili, who is Chief Government spokesperson, said the country has enough maize stock and that the State will not tolerate unnecessary price hikes of the staple food.
We wonder then why some unscrupulous business executives attempted to dupe Zambians by hiking the prices of mealie meal with no justification.
This led to organisations like the Consumer Unit Trust Society –CUTS to call on Government to dialogue with the Millers Association of Zambia over the mealie-meal prices.
CUTS National Coordinator, Simon Ngona says mealie meal is a staple food, whose price should not be allowed to skyrocket.
We feel the dialogue is long overdue considering that importation, distribution, and pricing of maize has always been a thorny issue in Zambia.
Since the UNIP days, issues to deal with maize were handled by Government through a marketing agency, NAMBOARD.
Government regulations prohibited private maize trade across districts with NAMBOARD controlling maize operations and allied credit for maize inputs.
The Chiluba government deregulated maize prices and private trade in the early 1990s but retained a limited government role in the market and frequently arranged maize imports to ensure adequate food supplies during drought years.
The Mwanawasa government, starting in the early 2000s, substantially increased the role of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
With the coming of the Patriotic Front Government to power, the pro-poor government that was largely voted for by the urban poor and citizens in rural areas, the party has invested massively in food security in the country.
Since maize has somehow become synonymous with food, it has been given special attention to avoid a sandpapery relationship between Government and the people.
Historically, what is clear is that all governments that have been in power have handled maize production and distribution carefully considering that it is the dominant staple food in Zambia.
Regionally, maize marketing and trade policy has in recent years been the subject of intense debate, especially in countries like Zambia where its growth is political.
Thus current food policy issues in Zambia, as in much of eastern and southern Africa, are rooted in an historical context.
It is in this regard that we call on all stakeholders involved to heed Mr Kambwili’s call by treating maize the way European countries treat the growing of wheat.