By HELEN ZULU –
THE Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) says the Zambia Agriculture Commodity Exchange (ZAMACE) trading platform will reduce price manipulation and suspicions in the food value chain.
MAZ president Andrew Chintala said ZAMACE trading platform was the answer to most challenges facing players in the food value chain.
“We are excited about ZAMACE because we used to depend on the South African futures (SAFEX) market but now we have a local commodity exchange.
“This development will further reduce name-calling that characterizes the food value chain sub-sector whereby some players are accused of price manipulation,” Mr Chintala said in a statement.
Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) first vice president Elico Spyron described ZAMACE as a good trading platform for everybody.
Mr Spyron said the platform brings transparency and predictability to the market because farmers would know the price of the grain even before harvesting since buyers were readily available.
“But we need to explain to the farmers about the platform and how it operates since it is a new concept, this way, farmers will be confident to come on board,” he said.
ZAMACE Executive Director Jacob Mwale said with the coming of the ZAMACE trading platform, Zambian farmers, millers, agriculture dealers, aggregators, food processors, suppliers of goods and services could transact on the commodity exchange using a transparent, guaranteed and structured trading regime.
He said knowledge of the price of the grain was now a reality in the country.
ZAMACE is the authorised agency for implementing of the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) under the agricultural credit Act 35 of 2010.
He said players would be able to use the WRS to settle their equipment and loan accounts with suppliers and access credit from participating financial institutions.
He said so far there were two participating banks, namely Stanbic and First National Bank (FNB), where farmers could approach the financial institutions to present their requirements and redeem part of their WRS receipts for cash.
