THE Zambia Cooperatives Federation (ZCF) has said it is immoral for millers and traders to sell mealie meal at exorbitant prices when farmers, who sweat to cultivate the maize, sold the commodity cheaply.

And the National Association for Peasant and Small-Scale Farmers of Zambia (NAPSSFZ) has accused millers of exploiting the public by hiking the price of mealie meal after buying maize cheaply.

But Millers Association of Zambia chairperson, Caleb Mulenga, said the shortage of maize had led to the high prices as even the few millers who bought some maize at K45,000 per 50kg bag had run out of the commodity and were now buying it at around K85,000 per 50kg bag.

"There have been other costs such as storage and we cannot be accused of exploiting the public," he said.

ZCF president Webster Shamfuti, in an interview in Lusaka, urged the millers and traders not to cash in on the sale of the staple food while small-scale farmers continued grappling with various difficulties.

"There is no justification for millers to increase the prices of mealie meal because they bought the maize cheaply," Mr Shamfuti said.

He urged the millers and traders to put the interest of the country first and reduce mealie meal prices instead of being preoccupied with making abnormal profits.

On the availability of maize in the country, Mr Shamfuti said the country had enough stocks, going by this year's production, and wondered why some people wanted to create an artificial shortage.

He said apart from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), the private sector was heavily involved in the purchase of the commodity.

Mr Shamfuti said the current situation highlighted the need for the Government to put more money into the Fertiliser Support Programme so that more maize could be grown at a subsidised cost.

He said the cooperative system was the solution to national food security and underscored the importance of primary cooperative societies.

NAPSSFZ president, Rodger Phiri, said in a separate interview that millers bought the maize from farmers at a price below K45,000 per 50kg bag, adding that it was unacceptable for them to sell a 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal at K52,000.

Mr Phiri said even after considering that the millers paid for transportation, the estimated K100,000 that they were making on a 50kg bag of maize bought at K45,000 from farmers was too high.

"Millers are exploiting the public by hiking prices of mealie meal and we are appealing to the Government to control the price of mealie meal the way the price of maize is controlled," Mr Phiri said.

He said during harvesting time, the millers always demanded for a low price of maize and wondered why this time they wanted to hike the price of mealie meal.

Mr Phiri also commended the Government for distributing fertiliser to farmers through their co-operatives, which he said would continue motivating the farmers.

He said the Government's good agricultural policies would make the country record another bumper harvest next year.

"I want to thank the Government for distributing farming inputs to our members. Most of the members have received the inputs in readiness for this farming season," he said.

Mr Phiri also appealed to small-scale farmers to support the Government's agricultural policies by not selling farming inputs but using them to boost production.

He said farmers in rural areas were buying fertiliser at K50,000 per 50kg bag, which he observed was a good agricultural policy.