By STEVEN ZANDE –
THE Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) has assured the nation that Zambia is food-secure and that mealie-meal prices will remain stable in all parts of the country.
MAZ chairperson Andrew Chintala said the association was constantly engaging members to ensure that they kept mealie-meal prices between K75 and K80 for the majority Zambians to afford the staple food.
Mr Chintala said millers were, however, buying expensive maize from commercial farmers because the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was yet to renew their maize contracts for them to access subsidised maize.
He said at a Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday that the projected 2.8 million tonnes of maize which the country would harvest from the 2015/2016 farming season was enough for consumption.
“We shall not set mealie -meal prices for our members. That would be against the consumer rights. We will continue to engage members to maintain the price of the commodity for every household to afford,” Mr Chintala said.
He said the association had gone to the Copperbelt, Southern, North-Western and Luapula provinces where they ascertained that mealie-meal prices were within the agreement among the members.
Mr Chintala said that millers would continue to operate at full capacity to ensure constant supply of the commodity on the market.
He urged consumers to buy mealie-meal from designated selling points of various milling companies to avoid buying the commodity at exorbitant prices from unscrupulous traders.
Mr Chintala commended the small-scale farmers for having worked hard to produce enough maize which reflected in the projected harvest which would ensure continuity in mealie meal production.
He also commended President Edgar Lungu for his decision to peg the maize floor price at K85 from K75.
Mr Chintala said this would help small-scale farmers earn enough revenue from their labour and manage to repay the loans used to buy farming inputs.