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Zambians should not accept escalating prices of basic commodities – Maureen

Zambians should not accept escalating prices of basic commodities – Maureen
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 10:08:00 AM

FORMER first lady Maureen Mwanawasa has said Zambia should not accept serious food shortages and escalating prices of basic commodities. And Maureen said Zambians are looking forward to President Rupiah Banda's speech when he opens Parliament because that will give a clear picture of the government's plan for the country.

During the farmers' day celebration organised by Magaba Women's cooperative in Lusaka on Monday, Maureen said it was sad to see Zambia experiencing a serious food shortage amidst abundant natural resources such as land and labour.

She said it was also sad to experience escalating prices of the staple food - mealie-meal - amidst good agriculture programmes put in place by the government.

"Zambia must say no to this situation because this challenge has many solutions and can be avoided, perhaps the agriculture policies currently in place are inadequate to meet the aspirations of our country and our people," she said.

Maureen said there was need to accept that Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia had failed due to obsolete equipment and could not therefore produce the fertiliser needed to support the agriculture sector.

She said agriculture subsidies should be realistic in order to meet the needs of the farmers who are supported under this programme.

"This brings me to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA). FRA among its many functions is mandated to procure and store maize in strategic reserves. It should not be seen as a profit making institution.

The least they can do is make a bit of money to cover their overheads because this is the arm of government, which should ensure that there is sufficient maize for consumption," she said.

Maureen said there was need to revamp the policy of growing winter maize as a buffer for the unforeseen shortages of corn.

She said provision of subsidised agriculture inputs should be all year round in order to allow farmers to still grow a diversity of food crops such as vegetables using affordable agriculture inputs.

Maureen said the FSP programme should not equal to or translate only into the growing of maize once a year through the access to fertiliser as this was killing the diversification of agricultural production at an affordable cost.

She also said there was need to find a solution to food storage facilities which were non-existent at village level at the moment.

Maureen further said enriching soils for agricultural purposes should not be limited to chemical fertiliser but organic farming as well.

And Maureen said 2008 was a sad and most challenging year in the sense that she lost her better half, whom she missed so much.

She said it was quite challenging that she had to cope and come to terms with reality and assume the responsibility of being the head of the family.

"It's not easy but with God's grace, we are soldiering on and I have taken up the responsibility with a lot of courage, determination and hope.

At the end of the day, that's the way out on this earth. Death has to come at one time or the other, but as much we always talk about it, each time it hits, it's a new phenomenon, we can’t know how to react to it and for a woman, it’s even more difficult because society expects you to behave in a certain manner but at the same time, you are an individual at the end of the day and the way you react to situations may not be what other people may think," she said.

"So what is important is that you should be yourself at the end of the day. It has enhanced my own understanding that it’s not easy, it’s very difficult no matter how economically, socially prepared you are, there are emotions attached, family matters attached, and that's the reality."

On the economic situation, Maureen said Zambia’s economy had been battered especially with the international credit crunch.

She said internal economics had suffered in the process but urged that this should be a learning phase for Zambians to see how strong the economy was to be able to still carry.

Maureen said there was need for Zambia to learn how to survive despite the economic problems hitting the international world.

"It means that there is need for us to continue working together, putting our home economics in place because these, the dynamics of international economics do not come sometimes with a sign or maybe the signs or the time for reacting might be too short but the effect could be reduced if we work hard to ensure that our economy remains stable and strong," she said.

On politics, Maureen said it was exciting, frustrating and challenging at the same time.

She said there was need to start understanding that the potential that was there in the country may be lacking the channel on how it could be expressed.

She said Zambia had been independent for many years with a lot of knowledge and experience which should be churned back to government which implements policies.

Maureen said she believed that Zambia was capable of coming out of its economic problems.

"We want to inspired by our leaders, we want to still continue having hope, we want to still feel that Zambia can do better than what we have now and we are looking forward to the speech by the President when he opens parliament because that will give way to what they want to do with this country.

So we are hopeful that this transition will unfold positive intentions which will help all of us to feel proud Zambians, to be hopeful and be inspired in everything that we are doing, we want to move as a nation," she said.

And commenting on the refusal by some opposition political parties to dialogue with the government, Maureen said it was like African politics were now about outdoing each other and trying to keep what they know to themselves.

"You may never be the president, you may never come and form government but political parties should realise that if they are able to convince people now, they have better chances of people looking at them as alternatives for the future, so if they think their ideas can be explained whether in the print media or other ways of communication so that Zambians can see, even government can acknowledge because we have a multiparty system, we have a Parliament which has got different members of Parliament so those MP are there to bring on board the visions of their party when they take these issues to Parliament and they are made into law. All of us listen to parliament debate, we will know that the government had taken the position of this one , it came from this political party and that's the idea, otherwise why have multipartism if others are not going to bring to the table diverse ideas for the country to benefit?” asked Maureen.

Labels: AGRICULTURE, MAUREEN

posted by MrK @ 10:08 AM