MARK SIMUUWE ON MEALIE MEAL PRICE AND THE UPND NEW DAWN GOVERNMENT STRATEGY
By Mark Simuuwe
People have been texting me in the inbox on what the solution is by the UPND Dawn Government to mealie meal prices and my response is :
This is an inherited problem which cannot be instantly addressed because the only key players the UPND found are the private sector.
In addressing the problem, the UPND has decided not to let the private sector players alone but to reintroduce activities in farm blocks . As a step of good faith , K1million was released last year to audit the farm block with focus on government allowing ZNS to be a key participant.
In addition , government decided to continue zero-rating all agricultural equipments and accessories to stimulate growth in the sector .
As a strategic framework, government also decided to purchase 10 milling plants so as to easily address mealie meal prices by selling at cost reflective prices and also meet the growing demand in the region which contributed to skyrocketing prices of mealie meal .
For UPND , export of maize which has been seen as a threat on our people ,should be an old perspective , and the UPND is turning this threat into an opportunity for more production to meet the demand .
Contrary to the private sector where profit maximization is centered on paying workers , , transport cost and cost of production, ZNS will produce Meal meal at affordable price without chocking on how they will pay workers and cost of electricity because the workers are civil servants.
With FRA subsidizing maize in times of crisis , ZNS millers will not manipulate its own government because it is part of government.
This increase in supply will force prices to go down because government will not need stressful negotiations with millers but to play in the market economy using ZNS .
Further , government has decided to find an equity partner for a local investor to set up a fertilizer manufacturing plant at a cost of $138million , which when at full capacity shall produce 300,000 metric tons of Urea and 700,000 tons of D-compound . This will also cut down on the cost of transporting fertilizer from the Asian countries thereby having direct effect on the cost of producing maize .
Lastly , government has deliberately come up with cost reflective maize floor price to encourage businessmen who decided to stop engaging in farming due to losses to revert to farming as a business . Since maize growing has now been given business sense .This will encourage production and excess to even export to other markets thereby creating more jobs in the country .
Government has also signed various market access agreements with UAE, Rwanda , South Africa , DRC and China to secure a ready market for the growing agricultural sector.
This market access is very serious and not a talk show . So far , DRC has advanced our government some considerable United States dollars for mealie meal supply and not maize supply . With ZNS milling , government is well- coordinated to take up the market .
President HH also tapped into the Israel Agro-tech for improved agricultural sector. China has also been brought on board to help in the supply chain as participants by way of buying Zambian products , and producing pesticides.
This is a lasting solution to reducing price of mealie meal in Zambia . It should also be noted that maize crisis has been regional in Southern and East Africa and this forced Kenya to import GMOs . To stabilize this crisis will require extra effort by government and its citizens to participate more in growing maize .