Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD) says the announced reduction in the price of mealie meal is too insignificant to have any true impact on the majority poor Zambians.
ZCSD Executive Director Lewis Mwape in a statement says while his organisation welcomes any effort by government to reduce the prices of essential commodities and services such as mealie-meal and electricity, there should be more efforts directed at ensuring that the price of the commodity is reduced further to make it affordable and accessible to the poor people in the lower income brackets. 
Mr Mwape notes that the high cost of food and mealie-meal in particular has been one of the major causes of poverty, hunger and nutritional inequality in Zambia, which has multiple effects in human development such as poor education performance that leaves shanty Townships and the rural communities as major victims.
Mr Mwape says it is ZCSD’s considered view that the K4 reduction announced by the government is only beneficial at the wholesale price threshold and only along the line of rail.
He states that the price reduction will not affect the majority who live in the rural districts of the country.
Mr Mwape says the reduction announced by the minister of K61.00 from K65.00 is not significant as it is still within the high cost threshold.
He notes that many Zambians were failing to buy a 25kg bag of mealie-meal when it was at K65.00 and they will still fail to buy it at the new price of K63.00 or more.