A Zambian Business Times – ZBT investigation has revealed that prohibitive transport costs and exploitative buying prices by local traders for mostly rural based farmers are among the key reasons why some maize traders are stranded at Food Reserve Agency – FRA depots across the country.
A sample check with some of affected farmers who are stranded at FRA depots has revealed that they do not have the funds required to transport their maize to markets mostly in Lusaka and the Copperbelt were the large scale milling companies are based and are offering cash on deliverly terms
Moreover, because of the low quantities some of the local farmers have, their only market alternative is to get better FRA prices than to sell to local traders whose prices are low and considered exploitative, hence resorting to waiting for the FRA to buy their produce.
And the Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) has appealed to farmers who are stranded at the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) depots to supply their maize to the millers as they are still buying the commodity.
MAZ President Andrew Chintala said there is no need for the farmers to panic because the millers are offering an alternative market therefore farmers are encouraged to deliver their maize to the millers or contact the association so it can link them to the market.
Chintala said the millers are offering a good price, which most farmers are satisfied with looking at the number of farmers supplying maize to the millers adding that a number of things constitute the price of maize.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Chintala confirmed that the prices would also be dependent on where the farmers are because in some instances the millers may have to provide transportation costs to get the maize to the milling plants.
He explained that the association is open to trading with farmers that want to offload their maize with the millers as they are always buying maize to produce mealie meal therefore farmers should not be stuck with their maize.
“If a miller is based in Lusaka and their maize is in Lundazi, the Miller will have to move the maize all the way from Lundazi to Lusaka. Let them contact us so that we can link them to millers closer to them who can offer them a better price”, he said.
He noted that the millers were at some point struggling to sell on the local market and could not buy more maize but with the alternative market, the millers can now buy more quantities of maize.
“We don’t have a fixed price, so the price will be negotiated depending on the supplier, are they going to deliver the maize to where I am, will you deliver the maize to the miller or I have to pick it up so we are open to further engagements with the farmers and traders that have maize”, he said.
Chintala noted that the export of mealie meal is proceeding well and over thirty companies are currently exporting adding that that will positively impact on the farmers and inflow of foreign exchange into the economy.
He said the millers participating in the export programme are required to have their own maize and export between 20% and 30% of their total stock with either 70% or 80% remaining for domestic consumption depending on how much stock the miller has.
He mentioned that allowing everyone to export whatever quantities they have would lead to a shortage on the market as others would export everything.
When asked what criteria was used to select exporting companies, he stated that “The only criteria is that you have maize, we verify that the maize is there , we allow you to export and we will determine how much you can export depending on the quantities, so others will qualify for 20% and others 30%”, he said.
He said the association receives updates on how much has been exported every week and all matters involving the export, adding that it has not received any formal complaints about the programme therefore everything is running smoothly.
