Millers want FRA to offload maize on the market as prices of mealie meal escalates on the Copperbelt in Zambia

The high cost of transporting maize from other provinces, leading to high mealie meal prices on the Copperbelt has prompted the Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) to solicit for Food Reserve Agency (FRA) maize from within the province. MAZ president Andrew Chintala said that in an effort to address the high transportation cost that millers are incurring as a result of importing maize from other provinces, the association has engaged the Ministry Of Agriculture to allow FRA to offload maize to millers operating within the copperbelt. Mr. Chintala said that since FRA operates on a principle of releasing maize on first in first out basis, it only releases old stock and holds on to the new stock which is sold in the preceding year. He has told Radio Phoenix in an interview that as of last week, Agriculture Minister Mtolo Phiri gave a go-ahead to FRA to offload maize to the millers across the country. Meanwhile, Authorities on the Copperbelt are concerned with the escalating mealie ...