Government says that maize deficit is not a problem

The Zambian government says that a maize deficit facing the country should not be a cause for concern as many households had additional food supplies, media reports said on Tuesday. A statement released by the Early Warning Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture said that the maize deficit for 1999 was expected to be 350,000 mt. The unit said that it expected some areas to face a "minor episode of transitory food insecurity" mainly because of crop failures and problems in stock movements. The government, through the Food Reserve Agency, will soon release some maize on the local market and do the same later in the year when the maize price is expected to increase. It added that current high fuel prices would constrain the smooth marketing of crops and consumers would pay more for food commodities now reaching markets.