Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
population (FAO, 2004), and the high incidence of HIV/AIDS. With the resulting grossly
low purchasing powers of the majority of the population, high cereal prices occasioned
by the frequent shortages and scarcities of the basic grain pose a serious risk to national
consumer welfare (FAO, 2002 and 2004). As a result, at least since 2002, the country has
featured on the priority lists of all major food aid organizations dealing with the current
food and humanitarian crisis in Southern Africa. In February 2005, unrelenting drought
conditions reportedly destroyed 70% of the maize crop, putting an estimated 260,000
persons at risk of starvation (IRIN, 2005). In May 2009, the National Early Warning Unit
of the Swaziland Ministry of Agriculture released estimates that put maize production for
the year at about 70,000 tonnes. While these figures represent an 11% increase over the
2008 performance, they are still less than domestic requirements or levels attained in the
late 1990s (Table 7.4) and leave a yawning gap of about 127,000 tonnes to be filled through
imports over the coming year (FAO, 2009).
7.3.2 Maize policy framework
The major role player in the Swaziland maize industry is the National Maize Corporation
(NMC). The NMC is the brainchild of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
(MOAC) and was established in 1985 as a government parastatal to guarantee a market
for maize farmers at competitive prices and to provide high quality, reasonably priced maize
meal to the people of Swaziland. The objectives changed in 1995 when NMC contracted
out its milling functions to the Swaziland Milling Company (SMC), retaining only its
commodity trading role, i.e. the purchase, storage and marketing of maize. The expectation
was that this marketing arrangement would assure market access to local farmers for their
maize produce (NMC, 1997). Government has entrusted NMC to carryout the following
key responsibilities:
• To guarantee a year round competitive market for Swazi maize farmers. This is
government strategy to keep more farmers in maize production to maintain the food
self-sufficiency objective.
• To guarantee year-round supplies of maize at reasonable costs to the nation.
• To reduce marketing barriers and cost to Swazi producers by improving the logistics of
marketing services by running silos efficiently, registering producers, providing drying
and shelling services and providing price information.
• To increase the efficiency of the maize market in Swaziland by promoting the availability
of white maize to consumers at reasonable costs in all regions of the country.
Without a doubt, NMC's chief purpose is to keep a tight control on the maize industry
and to serve as the instrument for achieving the objectives of the government of developing
the industry. According to Thompson (2003), NMC stimulates and promotes commercial
maize production by improving the domestic marketing system and infrastructure such
as the decentralisation of the purchasing function and rehabilitation of the regional silos,
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