Prof Jumanne Maghembe

Milling companies buying maize from the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) have been warned against selling flour at not more than 500/- a kilogram.

The NFRA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Charles Walwa, said millers have already started buying maize from the agency and so far 1,000 metric tons out of 50,000 have been sold.

“As government has already insisted, the indicative price is 500/- per kilogram and everyone should comply because a research was done by my agency to establish the price,” Mr Walwa said as reports from Northern regions of the country say there is acute shortage of the staple food.

He said the agency has also distributed several tons of free food to villagers facing scarcity in Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara regions. He pointed out that traders seeking to buy maize and other cereals from NFRA should first make their application through regional authorities.

“Private businesses need to get approval from regional authorities before we can sell them maize to avoid cheating because once listed by regional officials it’s easy to follow them up in the market,” he noted.

Press reports earlier this week quoted a number of flour milling company managers in northern regions of Arusha and Kilimanjaro warning that scarcity of maize since last March has forced them to produce under capacity which has pushed prices up.

National Milling Corporation (NMC) has also been affected by the shortage and officials were quoted as saying that by end last week, there was no maize in stock hence the threat of shortage of the staple food among residents of the region and its neighbours.

There are fears that some unfaithful traders are smuggling maize and flour to neighbouring Kenya and Uganda which are also facing acute shortage of food. Prices offered by consumers in the two countries are double of that being offered locally.

The government imposed a temporary food export ban late last year because of concerns that several regions in the country are facing shortages.

But last week, Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Minister, Professor Jumanne Maghembe said the government is planning to include consumers in neighbouring countries as beneficiaries of the country’s food production industry instead of regular food export restrictions.

At a recent meeting convened by acting Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Mr Meck Sadiki to discuss rising food prices, the traders said a ceiling price of 500/- does not give them profit hence may unlikely accept the offer.

The ministry estimates that this season’s food crop production will be 12,825,205 tons of cereals against annual consumption requirement of 11,414,960 tons for the year.

By FINNIGAN WA SIMBEYE, Tanzania Daily News

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