Zambia News Features

By HELEN ZULU

THE escalating mealie meal prices could have a hidden solution that has not been fully explored in Zambia.

Cassava production may just be a perfect but under explored substitute for the maize meal.
Growing cassava could contribute to improved food security and nutrition and help to stabilise the escalating mealie meal prices in the country.

Cassava is the third largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics.

Can cassava replace mealie meal as a staple of choice?

It is a major staple food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for around 500 million people.

Zambia can also become one of the world’s largest producers of cassava like Nigeria if it takes cassava production seriously as it takes maize production.

Cassava is an important staple food crop that produces bulky storage roots with a heavy concentration of carbohydrates.

The crop is consumed by more than 30 per cent of the Zambian population and is traditionally grown mostly in the northern half of the country.

The country has in the most recent past been faced with escalating mealie-meal prices on the market with a 25 kilogramme of mealie meal being sold at around KR70.

Many people blamed it on the Government, saying it had not provided enough maize grain to the millers.

But Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Permanent Secretary Douglas Siakalima said Government was committed to supporting initiatives which were aimed at contributing to the improved food security and nutrition.

Mr Siakalima says promoting cassava growing in the country could help to stabilise the escalating of mealie meal prizes as cassava had many advantages when compared with maize both from the agronomic perspective as well as its multiple economic uses.

Read more courtesy of Times of Zambia.

By GIDEON THOLE

GOVERNMENT has warned traders countrywide against frustrasting its efforts in implementating the Kwacha rebasing exercise, saying this will trigger price increases and inflation.

Director of domestic trade in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Albert Muchanga said yesterday that the Government did not want any instability in the economy, the reason it was urging traders to uphold consumer confidence.

Mr Muchanga  said the Government wanted to ensure that there was stability of prices to avoid inflation during the transition period.

He noted that some traders were adjusting the prices of goods and services upwards when rounding off the figures, leading to price increments.

The Government, he said, was determined to ensure that the transition period for the implementation of the Kwacha rebasing exercise was not mishandled by both traders and consumers to avoid inflation or erosion of consumer confidence.

The director, who toured some selected shops in Ndola yesterday, said the Government was concerned with reports that some consumers were dumping coins at some points of sale or simply keeping them at home.

“As Government we have received reports about some activities such as refusal to accept change in form of coins and rounding off prices upwards when using the rebased currency. All these activities will lead to unnecessary price increments which will  also lead to inflation and negatively affect the country’s economic growth,” he said.

Read more courtesy of Times of Zambia.