Zambia's 2009/2010 maize harvest is a record 2.8 million metric tonnes (Zambia Daily Mail, 2010). Over 80% of this maize was harvested by small scale farmers. From the above figure of 2.8 million metric tonnes, one deduces that this is very good news in terms of national and household food security because maize is the main staple food for the majority of Zambians.
Government has purchased most of the harvested grain through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA). FRA is the official government mandated agency that purchases maize from farmers all over the country. FRA stores the purchased grain at various satellite and main depots dotted around the country. Sadly, in the recent past various print and electonic media have been reporting on poor storage facilities at the FRA depots resulting in soaking, germination and rotting of some of the stored grain with the falling of the first rains in most parts of the country. On 16th November, 2010, Muvi TV main news reported that several 50 kilo gramme bags of maize have gone to waste in Central province. The station reported that some maize grain at storage sheds in Serenje and Chisamba have either germinated or rotted due to exposure to rain water.
Given the huge efforts that farmers, government and several other stakeholders have been making to improve maize production and ultimately food security it is indeed disturbing that poor storage facilities will result in loss of substantial amounts of grain. FRA and all relevant authorities have the moral responsibility to ensure that they move in quickly and secure the remaining grain before it is too late and that in future proper storage mechanisms will be put in place.
