President Hakainde Hichilema has assured the nation that government is putting in place measures to address the high prices of mealie meal in the country.
Speaking when he delivered a speech, at the official opening of the third session of the 13th National Assembly in Lusaka, President Hichilema expressed concern over the high price of mealie meal.
The Head of State informed the nation that government has prioritised the transformation of the agriculture sector, in an effort to make the country’s staple food affordable to citizens.
The Head of State disclosed that government has established a financing window that will allow small, medium and large scale farmers to access financing at concessional rates.
He also cited the increase of the maize flow price from K180 to K280 kwacha as a deliberate measure to stimulate maize production.
And President Hichilema has encouraged the use of irrigation practices so that farmers do not only rely on rain-fed farming.
He was optimistic that the interventions will start bearing fruit soon.
“Agriculture remains the bedrock of our economic transformation and jobs creation agenda, we are making steady progress to transform the sector by ensuring efficiency and productivity for the benefit of our people” President Hichilema stated.
The Head of State explained that the country’s maize supply is under pressure due to regional and global supply deficits arising from factors such as climate change and instability in some parts of the world.
He said that Zambia’s food security has been negatively impacted by prices of mealie meal, hence measures are aimed at cushioning the plights of citizens.
President Hichilema called on citizens to unite and build upon individual and collective achievements, forging a more productive and unified nation.
Meanwhile Chief Chisunka of Luapula Province expressed confidence in the measures being implemented by the government.
Chief Chisunka disclosed that traditional rulers are also playing a role in ensuring their subjects who are vulnerable but viable farmers are not left out on the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
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Look at the home grown solutions bring pushed by the president………..
Increase the value to the farmer of maize production to stimulate more maize production…….
As opposed to others who would just throw borrowed money to lower the price of maize meal……….
Forward 2031……….
The current mealie meal crisis has been caused by some reckless decisions made in the past 2 seasons. The UPND took over when the planting season was just about. They cancelled all fertilizer tenders and awarded them to their friends who didn’t have it in stock. The distribution was haphazard and many farmers didn’t get their allocation. 2022 was the same as the new suppliers required more time to deliver. Fertilizer came in January and many soyabeans seeds were distributed. In the meantime the UPND decided to export all the stocks that they found with FRA. Now we don’t have and he’s talking about finding a solution. It’s nonsensical as he should have just listened to advice in the first place. This is real Under 5
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To all the nay sayers………
As has been stated before, the president bit the bullet from the first week in office……..
As such, this UPND GRZ has a lot of room to cushion for high food prices , without using borrowed money for consumption……..
This s a bitter disappointment to the clique and their supporters who were hoping high food prices will bring down this government……….
Come again and try in 2036
Right now the fertilizer tender has been cancelled three times so far. So this means will not only be inadequate but late.
By the way what has lead the price which the government does not know.
The ones shouting the loudest are the ones who damaged our economic foundation and made it weak and prone to negative impacts. We have confidence in our president. Those that have had enough can kindly move out of zambia and go to Zimbabwe if they want.
Pray tell how much are you paid to be here
No one in zambia can afford to pay me or buy me
Is Zimbabwe better, @Tarino?
This is good
Kikikikiki what happened to “Espionage” and Gold smuggling…..just like Faith Musonda’s 65 million….UPND IS JUST A BUNCH OF BANDITS STARTING FROM THE SUPREME LEADER AYATOLLAH HAKAINDE HICHILEMA
I find it very hard to understand auntie HH. He says he is concerned with the high price of mealie meal, what concern? Auntie HH decides to open the door and begins to export the commodity after being told it was a food security issue. He then begins to boast that we have exported a million metric tonnes and have raised 15 million dollars. Secondly, he raised the floor price of maize from 180 to 280. As long as that price is that high, the price of mealie meal will NEVER come down.
Thirdly, auntie HH and his agric ministries appear to make haphazard decisions concerning movement of maize, fertilizer contracts and the likes.
The problem we have is that some people think they know better than their predecessors. Best thing is to improve on what you find instead of discarding everything completely.
Last month some DC in some backward district was thanking Upnd government for “the early delivery” of farming inputs. But the contract has even signed yet so which inputs was referring to? Maybe cowdung?