Zambia: Maize price row can drive food shortage in 2017

By Francis Maingaila

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) - Cash-strapped Zambia could face a food supply shortage in 2017 after buying only about half of the maize it needs from local dealers, who see the price the government offers as too low.

Julius Shawa, the Agriculture Ministry’s permanent secretary, told journalists that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has only managed to buy 280,000 metric tons of the 500,000 it needed.

“The procured consignment is shrinking fast and the government is scouting for funds to procure a shortfall of about 220,000 tons from Private Grain Dealers and Suppliers (PGDS) to cut the shortfall.”

He decried how some dealers are unwilling to sell maize at the government’s proposed price of $7 per 50 kilogram bag.

Bypassing the FRA to sell maize directly to “mealers” – middlemen who process maize – at a price of $15-$20 a bag will push up consumer prices for a basic food staple, he warned.

“Our fear is that the mealers will be tempted to recover the operating costs from the retail sale of maize meal,” he added.

According to Shawa, the standoff has left dealers with no other option but to export maize to neighboring countries, where one bag can fetch $15-$20.

During the 2014-2015 season, Zambia exported 700,000 tons of maize to Zimbabwe, 300,000 tons to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 200,000 to Malawi, and a total of 500,000 to Namibia and Botswana – all countries neighboring Zambia.

On average, Zambia annually consumes 800,000 tons of maize for industrial purposes and 2 million tons for eating.