Empower cereal Board in order to reduce inflation rate, government urged

A member of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee on Parastatal Organization (PACPO) has requested the government to inject an investment capital of Sh. 10 billion in this year’s budget for 2012/13 fiscal year so as to enable the National Food Cereal Board to sustain trade competition it currently facing. Murtaza Mangungu who is also the deputy Chairman of the PACPO said recently in Dar es Salaam that, the Board will be in a position to regulate its business activities which ultimately would reduce the current inflation rate from the current 17 percent to a lesser. According to him, the PACPO committee hah proposed that the government should inject such a great sum of money to the Board after having seen that, the Board at this time has overtaken control of properties formerly owned by the defunct National Milling Corporation (NMC) in Iringa, Dodoma, Arusha and Mwanza .The committee looked at their books of accounts and found out that they had no problems and in view of this, the government should inject a substantial amount of money to the tune of Sh. 10 billion in order to empower them into doing the activities of the Board”, he said.  The Board which is under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food security and Cooperatives was formed in 2010 under the Cereals and Other Produce Act No. 19 of the year 2009, with the aim of developing cereal food crops and consumable products and engage in income generating activities related to crop production, canning, research and marketing in the country. PACPO members were on the view of the fact that the Board would be in a position to reduce the inflation rates which occurs as a result of the shortage of basic food crop a situation which has grown so alarming in the country. The food crops in high rate of scarcity in the country includes sugar, maize, rice, beans and other cereal crops. Economically about 48 percent of the high inflation rate which currently hits the nation is due to lack of effective Board to curb with trade competition with other private crop institutions buying cereal crops in the country, the members noted. The Board has fewer workers in the country another aspect that draws back their development activities, the members noted. They have also asked the government to open an office for them so as to let them work in a competitive spirit with other trade partners.