Agribusiness - Maize Marketing And Financial Freedom

If you're aiming for long-term financial independence, this article reveals why investing in Zambia’s maize value chain is a smart move. With profit margins of at least K100 per tonne, delivering just 10 truckloads of maize monthly could earn you K30,000. The author highlights how enterprising youths are already cashing in by supplying millers daily and calls for policies that prioritize exporting finished maize products to boost forex and food security. Local millers are ready to pay premium prices to farmers, provided borders remain open for processed goods. The article also showcases lucrative maize-based products from mealie meal and maize grits to gluten-free pasta and animal feed proving that value addition is key. Don’t miss the next business nugget in Issue 12 of Excel Magazine, which will focus on oil marketing.

If your medium to long term plan is to build financial freedom, then the maize value chain is what you need to invest in. Let me tell you why – the profit margin on a tonne of maize sold to a miller by a trader or a Farmer is atleast K100 per tonne, a truckload of 30 tonnes of maize delivered to a Milling plant will make you K3,000 profit. If you can deliver just 10 truckloads per month, your profit margin will be K30,000.

Some smart youths deliver truckloads of maize to my Milling plant every working day, and I gladly support them in my effort to encourage entrepreneurship amongst the youths and help them build capacity.

As Millers, we are looking forward to a time that the Government will only allow the export of finished maize products in order to encourage agribusiness value addition and boost domestic food security. The export of the finished products will bring in higher volumes of forex. Our local Milling companies have the capacity to off-take all the locally grown maize.

I commend the government for safe guarding the interests of the farmer by encouraging that they sale their maize for a good price; as a local Miller, I can assure you that we are willing to pay a premium price to the farmer, the tradeoff we want is that the boarders are kept open for our finished products so that we can win as well.

I will conclude by giving examples of maize value addition: mealie meal; maize grits for snacks or for use in breweries production process; gluten Free Pasta; Roller Meal; maize bran; meal 3; feed for chickens, fish, goats, pigs and cattle, to mention but a few.

In Issue 12 of Excel Magazine, my business nugget will be in oil marketing.