GTAZ chairman George Liacopoulos said this in a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday.
Following misleading reports in the press that there is no maize in
the country, we, the Grain Traders Association of Zambia, wish to
confirm that there is in excess of 90,000 MT available for sale, Mr
Liacopoulos said.
He said members of the GTAZ held the stocks of maize in Eastern, Southern, Northern, Central and Lusaka provinces.
Mr Liacopoulos said the maize had been available for sale since August last year.
He said officers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives counted and confirmed the stocks.
The maize has been available for sale for some time now but millers
have not come forward to purchase it because they have an agreement to
buy subsidised grain from the Food Reserve Agency, Mr Liacopoulos said.
He said the maize, which was grown in Zambia and non-genetically
modified, was offered to the FRA at a market price in November last
year.
If this maize was to be bought by FRA under the current subsidy
programme, shortages of subsidised maize experienced by some millers
would be immediately alleviated due to GTAZ members' maize stocks being
strategically located around the country, Mr Liacopoulos said.
He said by accessing this local supply of maize, the FRA would allow
millers to resume full production of mealie meal, which would result in
reduced mealie meal prices.
Our monthly consumption of maize as a nation is approximately 60,000
MT, which means the stocks held by GTAZ are equivalent to one and a
half months of consumption, Mr Liacopoulos said.
He said stocks available could sustain millers' requirements until April when early maize would come onto the market.
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