The residents of Chienge and Nchelenge have been forced to pay exorbitant prices for mealie meal, which has caused great hardship for many families.
The residents of these areas have been denied access to the cheaper mealie meal provided by the Zambia National Service – ZNS – which has failed to reach their communities, leaving them with no affordable options for this staple food.
The ZNS was engaged to provide affordable mealie meal to the people of Zambia, but its efforts have not been seen by all Zambians.
According to the statistics from the Zambian Statistics Agency –ZAMSTATS, for the month of October 2023, Mealie meal in Chienge, and Nchelenge districts in Luapula province is trading at K370 for a 25 kg bag of Breakfast meal, and K305 for a 25 kg bag of Roller meal respectively.
Many believe that the government should provide more support to the ZNS so that it can fulfill its mandate of providing affordable mealie meal to all Zambians. But for now, the people of Chienge and Nchelenge continue to struggle with the high cost of this basic necessity.
The Luapula Chamber of Commerce attributed the high mealie meal prices to the lack of reach by the Zambia National Service –ZNS- Eagle’s Mealing to the affected areas in the province due to the far flung status of their terrain.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times –ZBT, the Chamber president Emmanuel Musanje said ZNS has not yet spread to those areas, hence there is no competition to help cushion the price of mealie meal. “Cheaper mealie meal from the National Service is predominantly around areas where there is ShopRite outlets, but as soon as they roll out to those areas, others will have no option, but to drop” said Musanje. He said one of the factors is that they have not received cheaper mealie meal from ZNS as result of the distance factor.
It has been almost two months since the Zambia National Service –ZNS- began distributing the Eagle’s Mealing to outlets such as Shoprite to help cushion the high prices of mealie meal on the local market, and address the concerns of the people by providing a cheaper alternative.
Musanje however noted that there is only one ShopRite outlet in Luapula province which is in Mansa, and one ZNS base. He said there is need for more ZNS agencies around the province in order to arrest the rise in mealie meal prices in the affected areas of the province.
