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Zambia

Zambia mVAM Bulletin #1: June 2016 - Maize price remains high despite the harvest

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KEY POINTS

  • Despite surplus production, June 2016 maize prices are higher than same period last year (June 2015) and above the five-year average. This may be attributed to factors including dryness and cross-border trading with neighbouring countries.

  • Erratic rainfall has reduced beans production and decreased the availability of beans in Southern and Western provinces.

  • Traders are concerned about unstable legume prices and high transportation costs.

METHODOLOGY

WFP Zambia’s in-house call centre has been operational since May 2016 as a part of WFP’s mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) initiative. The centre conducts telephone interviews with key informants to collect weekly information on the price of food including maize, rice, groundnuts, cassava and beans, as well as information on general food availability and market accessibility. The surveys are carried out with a sample of 51 traders across 24 districts. The call centre collected 107 responses in May and 161 responses in June. Phone surveys contain inherent response biases; therefore, the bulletin reports patterns and trends rather than precise estimates.