allAfrica.com: Zambia: Bitter Sweet Sugar Saga - Just What is the Problem? (Page 1 of 3)

THE widespread shortage of sugar that battered the country recently may be over in many areas, but the underlying factors that gave birth to the shortage are still begging for answers.

According to the Zambia Consumer's Association executive secretary, Muyunda Ililonga, "the shortage of sugar still calls for thorough investigation and corrective measures to ensure that history does not repeat itself."

Zambia recently experienced a nationwide shortage of the key commodity for almost a month, which saw the prices of sugar hitting record highs on the local market. In May 2008, a two kilogramme pocket of sugar fetched for as high as K18,000 in some places from the average K7,500, while a kilogramme packet fetched for as high as K10,000 from the average of K4,500 the previous two months. Supply has since normalised and prices have stabilised with a two kilogramme packet now trading between K 8,500 and K10,000 in most outlets, while a one kilogram packet ranges between K5,000 to K6,000.

The long winding queues that became a common feature at sugar outlets as people fought to secure the white crystal, one of the most prized products of every Zambian household are no longer the order of the day. And the number of people panic buying has diminished.

The sudden shortage of sugar has, however, given impetus to the need to re-look at the operations of the industry and some of the critical factors that could have given rise to its scarcity. Not only the scarcity, but also the high cost of the product on the Zambian shelves.

Although most analysts have repeatedly criticised the cost of sugar in Zambia as being too high for the country that grows and produces its own commodity, producers have often cited the addition of 'value added service such as pre-packed fortification of the product with vitamin A as justification.

However, experts in sugar fortification have disclosed that the maximum cost one can incur for fortifying a kilogram of sugar is just K70.00 (Seventy kwacha) only. According to an Illovo document the cost of sugar production in Zambia is one of the lowest in the world which is only 35 UScents (K1200) for a kilogramme of sugar.

The Food and Drug Act Cap 303 of the Laws of Zambia prohibits the sale of unfortified sugar in the country. The law was initially aimed at protecting consumer's health as a certain minimum quantity of vitamin A, from a medical point of view, is essential to human health.

However, the fortification law overlooked the fact that there are several scientific studies which proved that regular and excess intake of vitamin A could cause harmful toxic elements in the human body.

Further from the human right point of view, is it appropriate for any government body to compel those, who already have sufficient quantity of vitamin A in their body due to balanced diet pattern or from the consumption of fish, liver, eggs, butter, etc to consume in excess through daily usage of fortified sugar?

The fortification law in Zambia which was adopted a couple of years ago was based on the findings for some sample surveys in some provinces where certain sections of the population namely young children, pregnant women, etc. had diagnosed deficiency in vitamin A.

It may be relevant to highlight the fact that drug and vitamin manufacturers and some of the donor agencies not only supported the surveys, training and capacity building but also intensively lobbied for the adoption of fortification law in Zambia. It is well known that the major element of vitamin A is a material called "retinol", which is being manufactured and controlled by a handful of multinational companies based in Switzerland, France and the United States.

And if one were to play the devil's advocate, one would also ask that if the deficiency in vitamin A is found in people who have poor diets and the assumption is that they are poor, is it then realistic to expect them to afford sugar? Another point to consider is that the world is now putting emphasis on healthy eating which includes taking natural foods. Shouldn't the solution be to promote local foods that are rich in the said vitamin.

Although on paper, the law on sugar fortification does not necessarily stop anyone from importing unfortified sugar, but rather requires to first fortify the product before offloading it on the market, critics perceive the mandatory fortification of sugar as an advantage to the local sugar producers who have to determine the market prices of the commodity without interference from the external market force.

Most countries in the region, or in the world as a whole do not have the requirement on fortification of sugar. "There is need to liberate the sugar industry and allow for import competition," says University of Zambia consultant economics Professor, Oliver Saasa.

Other than the fortification requirement, Zambia's lack of imported sugar on the market has over the last one year been further compounded by the pressure of a legally-binding development agreement signed between the Government and the country's largest sugar producing company, Zambia Sugar Plc.

web allafrica.com	Enter your search terms	Submit search form
OR subscribers use AllAfrica's premium search engine


Use our pull-down menus to find more stories

Today's Most Active Stories