Mealie Meal For Chilubi
In recent days reports have circulated regarding the delivery of mealie meal to Chilubi Island, which has a by-election scheduled for February 13. The photos appear to show a Post Boat at the harbour loaded with hundreds of bags of mealie meal from the disaster management unit.
Reacting to reports UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema wrote, “The people of Chilubi constituency, like other parts of the country, deserved this mealie meal, not only during by-elections, but as part of relief food throughout last year.”
“It's unfortunate that such relief food can only be given to starving citizens during by-elections. But more importantly, our citizens deserve more sustainable livelihood through a better managed economy than short term handouts. Our citizens need job opportunities, education, quality health care, and long term economic solutions,” Hichilema added.
The handouts come following a warning from the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) that mealie meal prices are likely to remain high until the May harvest. The IAPRI has also warned of the problems households are facing in some areas as a result of limited availability following crop failure last season. Prices for a 25kg breakfast bag reached K163.30 in December 2019.
“For Zambia to sustainably remain food secure, open maize border policy should be regarded as part of the solution because in times of shortfall, guarantees that borders will remain open triggers supply response among farmers who wish to produce and earn higher prices or traders who may want to fill the gap through well-timed imports. A stop and go maize production and marketing approach will continue to hamper Zambia’s ability to be the region’s maize grain supplier,” the IAPRI has advised.
Meanwhile, NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili has warned against giving the PF and President Lungu another five years in office stating, “If people are suffering, if people cannot have three meals a day, if the cost of mealie meal is beyond reach for the ordinary poor, then the performance has been very bad. It is not by building roads and hospitals where there are no medicines and equipment we can say that they have worked, no! It is to reduce poverty levels and also it is to reduce the living standards of the people.”
“The question we should ask ourselves, have the PF done it under President Edgar Lungu to uplift the living standards of the people? The answer is a big no! Have the PF under President Edgar Lungu made it possible for the ordinary citizen to afford the staple food which is mealie meal? The answer is no! Have the poor farmers been paid for delivering maize on time? The answer is no! Have the inputs been delivered on time? The answer is no! So where is the performance? Where is the performance? So, in my view, a lot needs to be done; President Lungu must jack up his standards and jack up his performance, otherwise the five years have not been impressive,” Kambwili continued.
