Some Lusaka residents have not welcomed the said reduced prices of mealie by the millers and the food reserve agency FRA after an announcement that the agency and the millers had agreed to sell mealie meal to retailers at k160 and k170 kwacha per 25kg bag.
For the past few months Zambians have had to buy their mealie meal which constitutes a significant part of their daily diet, at a higher price than usual with a 25kg bag going at over 200 kwacha in some areas.
Earlier on Monday the Food Reserve Agency FRA announced that it has agreed with millers to be selling maize at k160 and k170, which some retailers such as ShopRite stated that their mealie meal pricing will fetch between k170 or k180 depending on the price sold to them by the millers.
Now some residents interviewed did not welcome the new reduced prices agreed by FRA and millers stating that the prices are still high.
“We don’t buy maize from other countries because we grow our own in Zambia, but we don’t understand why mealie meal has to be this expensive,” they said.
The residents also pleaded to further reduce the prices of mealie to about k150 or k50 kwacha as promised by the current government while they were in opposition.
And Researcher and Consultant in Climate Smart Agriculture Oliver Kandela Bulaya has also agreed with the residents stating that the prices agreed by FRA and the millers are still high especially for the ordinary Zambians.
Dr. Bulaya has told One Love Radio that Zambia’s resources have not been managed well despite small scale farmers producing enough.
“We are not doing well as a country in terms of managing our own resources such as maize,” he further said.
Meanwhile, a small scale farmer only identified as Mr. Kapila took the situation on a positive side and supported the miller’s decision to sell mealie meal at only k160 and k170 kwacha respectively.
“Millers put in a lot in terms of producing mealie meal so I think the prices are fair,” Mr. Kapila explained.
