An improAved maize marketing system for African countries: The case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Access to food is essential to survival, and access to markets is essential for development. Most parastatal marketing systems in Africa have failed either to provide adequate links between surplus and deficit areas, or to extend markets to scattered smallholders, or both. The parastatal system does provide a legitimate need, but it has been frequently misapplied. This article proposes a system for Zimbabwe which retains government control of national stocks and enables the parastatal to stabilize prices, at the same time ensuring a more rational delivery system in rural areas with prices reflecting storage and transport costs. The local population is encouraged to fulfill local needs, thus avoiding the expense of directing all marketing and processing through the urban areas. A more localized system will also have greater multiplier effects.