Maravi

Shortage of mealie-meal hits Mpulungu, Mbala districts

Shortage of mealie-meal hits Mpulungu, Mbala districts
By Emmanuel Kapampa in Mpulungu
Monday April 14, 2008 [04:00]

A CRITICAL shortage of mealie-meal has hit Mpulungu and Mbala districts in the Northern Province, forcing some people to survive on sweet potatoes. The staple food ran out in the district on Friday when the last consignment on the market by Shabco millers was sold out to the public at a price of K60,000 per 25kg bag.

A check at the outlets that sold mealie meal in the district, revealed that most of them had closed, having sold their last bags three days ago.

Sources in nearby Mbala district also confirmed the shortage of the essential commodity on the market for over four days.

Some people were seen flocking to the market to buy maize grain which was selling at K10,000 per gallon.
But workers at Cereal Millers limited who are the leading suppliers of mealie-meal in Mpulungu and Mbala, attributed the shortage to lack of maize which ran out in Food Reserve Agency (FRA) sheds in Mbala.

They said cereal millers had since purchased truck loads of maize from the FRA in Nakonde which was being ferried to Mbala for milling.
Some people talked to revealed that they had been surviving on sweet potatoes during the period of the shortage.

Labels: MAIZE

posted by MrK @ 4:36 AM