Mozambique Grain Institute to take action against “opportunists who distort and strangle” the market

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique Grain Institute to take action against “opportunists who distort and strangle” the market

6:53 CAT | 22 Mar 2017

File photo

The director of the Mozambique Grain Institute (Instituto de Cereais de Moçambique/ICM), Joao Macaringue, has stressed the need to take action against “opportunists who distort and strangle the market” in agricultural produce.

Speaking in the northern province of Nampula, Macarringue explained that ICM plans in the medium and long term to implement a new method of controlling the market through the introduction of a system to register traders.

Cited in the daily newspaper “Noticias”, he stated that registration will make it difficult for foreign traders to operate. This process will involve cooperation between the district economic activities services (SDAE), district administrators, and others.

There have been complaints from various people involved in agricultural sales that national and foreign actors have distorted the market in both prices and availability.

At a meeting led by the governor of Nampula, Victor Borges, which was attended by more than two hundred participants, business representatives argued for vigorous action to end the influence of those they consider to be opportunists.

According to one of the participants, “we are greatly harmed by the presence of non-registered traders that come and buy produce straight from the farmers when we have supplied the inputs”.

Others noted that the country is harmed when crops were whisked away to neighbouring countries – mainly to Malawi but also, to a lesser extent, to Zimbabwe and Zambia. This leads to pockets of food insecurity. One of the audience complained that “there are many opportunists that come here to work for a short time … they buy everything and leave nothing”.

Joao Macarringue stressed, “as was very clear from our various meetings with stakeholders, one of the serious problems is the appearance of individuals during the marketing season who disrupt the market in terms of prices and the quantities being bought up”.

Source: AIM