News views were oppressed .
She also said it was naive for some politicians to claim that President Edgar Lungu refused to meet three church mother bodies ' request to seek audience with him at State House .
" We suspect that sugar is being held by retailers and wholesalers . �is is what has frustrated our efforts of achieving the Sh120 that a kilogramme of the commodity should be retailing at ," said head of the Sugar Directorate Solomon Odera .
She explained that the church mother bodies sought to see President Lungu at a time he was committed with other visitors , but he was ready to dialogue with anybody .
�e directorate says importers are selling a 50kg bag of sugar at Sh4,800 , down from Sh5,800 in April , while locally it is retailing at Sh5,200 on average , from Sh6,000 two months ago .
�is was in response to Chipili independent MP Jewis Chabi who sought an answer as to whether the church leaders were denied access to State House a few weeks ago .
Agriculture and Food Authority director general Alfred Busolo says there is adequate sugar in the country but inefficiencies in the supply chain are making consumers pay more .
�e House also heard that the removal of the 10 percent levy on maize exports would help to make Zambian l grain more competitive on the regional market because many neighbouring countries recorded bumper harvests .
Ms Wina said the move would allow exporters to compete in selling maize in East Africa which was the new market since most countries in the SADC had recorded bumpers harvests .
" �ere is enough sugar in the country , which by now should have stabilised the price to Sh120 per kilogramme . But traders have refused to pass these bene ts to consumers ," says Mr Busolo .
Local stocks have fallen to 4,000 tonnes as at �ursday this week and the directorate is enhancing imports to cover for the declining stocks .
�e country requires a total of 9,000 tonnes at its factories at any given time to stabilise the local price .
She said that Government would be looking at exporting the excess 1.8 million tonnes of maize following the bumper harvest recorded this year .
�is was in response to a question by Nakonde PF MP , Yizukanji Siwanzi who wanted to nd out the impact of the removal of the 10 per cent tax .
In response to Sioma independent MP Mbololwa Subulwa , who wanted to know when the Presidential Marketeers ' Empowerment fund would be spread to other areas like Western province , Ms Wina said since it was a revolving fund and the resources would be expanded . By Chila Namaiko
Kenya
Kenya : Price of sugar still high Despite increased imports
Kenyans are paying dearly for sugar despite increased imports into the country aimed at lowering the cost .
�e sector regulator attributes the situation to wholesalers and traders who hoard the commodity .
Close to 200,000 tonnes of sugar have been imported since May this year in a move that has seen both the import price and the ex-factory cost in local mills come down in the past one month . But the bene ts of lower cost is yet to reach the consumers .
�e Sugar Directorate and the Ministry of Agriculture say a kilogramme of sugar should be retailing at a maximum of Sh120 . However , it ' s currently selling at an average of Sh180 in most shops .
In a sugar sector report for the month of April , the directorate said the monthly average price ( April 2017 ) was 51 per cent higher compared with the corresponding month in the previous year , owing to high demand against low supply .
Sugar production in the rst four months of the year dropped by 28 per cent compared with the same period last year , subjecting consumers to high prices on reduced supplies in the market . �is pushed a 50kg bag to Sh6,150 .
In a report , the sugar directorate says that in the period January to April 2017 , production dropped to 172,722 tonnes compared with 238,872 tonnes in the same period last year .
�e directorate notes that sugar production has been decreasing in the past four months and attributes the decline to the prevailing cane shortage in most growing zones .
Low stocks have been linked to drought that affected sugarcane development in most of the growing zones .
Kenya produces 600,000 tonnes of sugar annually . It relies on imports to meet the growing demand that currently stands at 900,000 .
�e country is allowed to bring in 300,000 tonnes of duty free sugar every year from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African countries .
�e directorate had projected a shortage of 1.9 million tonnes of cane by the end of the last nancial year that ended on Friday midnight . By Gerald Andae
May - June 2017 [ 8 ]
FARMERS
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