Govt. reverses itself on subsidized maize prices
Written by YAKOBE CHIWAMBO
Friday, 26 August 2011 05:42
YAKOBE CHIWAMBO
ONLY a few months after the Government in Dar intervened by selling
maize to dealers and traders with the noble intention of bringing
down the price of maize flour that had shot through the roof as a
result of food shortages, the Government has had to reverse its
decision, saying the move was a gross mistake!
In the event, Dar es Salaam denizens who were among the greatest
benefactors from the original decision are already feeling the pinch.
The price of maize flour
has gone back up – to Tsh800-900 a kilogramme – from the indicative
price of Tsh500 a kilo which was the benchmark under the Government’s
intervention.
Under that initiative, dealers were able to purchase maize from the
National Food Reserves Authority (NFRA) at Tsh300 per kg from early
May 2011. This was then to be sold at an affordable price to consumers
after milling the maize into flour.
Speaking to Business Times in a telephone interview yesterday, the
minister for Agriculture, Food & Cooperatives, Professor Jummane
Maghembe, said it was a mistake that the Government intervened by
providing maize to traders at a lower price in order to bring down
the price of the staple.
“The Government is not responsible for setting the prices for food;
market forces are there to determine that. We stopped releasing the maize
from the Reserves because we realized that farmers have more maize
than what we have in the Government Reserves,” Maghembe said.
However, he was reluctant to say why the decision to reverse the
original decision was not announced with the same fanfare that
characterised the original decision!
When the Government initiated the move barely four months ago, it was
widely publicized – and just as widely applauded by Tanzanians!
In fact, the President and his Food Minister, Prof. Maghembe, were the
ones who personally publicized the original decision to sell maize
cheaply to big dealers and traders in Dar es Salaam so as to ensure
that the price of the national staple would come down.
With the new decision in now place, maize dealers and other traders
have to obtain supplies of the commodity directly from farmers
upcountry and bring it to the market.
Most low income earners rely on maize flour for cooking Ugali, stiff
porridge. The prices of other foodstuffs are not within reach of most
ordinary Tanzanians. For instance, rice – which is regarded as second
to maize in popularity – is currently sold for Tsh1,600-2,000 per
kilogramme in Dar es Salaam!
The ministry estimates that this farming season’s food production will be
12,825,205 tonnes of cereals – against an estimated consumption requirement of
11,414,960 tonnes this year.
However, a good number of regions are still reported to be
experiencing food shortages. Food shortage in May this year made the
Government to provide about 29,220 tonnes of relief food worth
Ths10.2bn to 28 districts in 12 regions countrywide.
The writer can be reached on +255 784 707 798