UNZA takes on mealie-meal business in an attempt to bridge the gap between theory and actualisation

“I HAVE tasted it. It is very smooth, and very, very nice. Once you taste it, you will stop buying other brands of mealie meal.”

These are the words of the University of Zambia vice Chancellor Luke Evuta Mumba on the mealie meal produced by UNZA Milling and being sold at its recently launched sales point within the institutions’ main campus on Great East Road.

According to Prof. Mumba, the mealie meal befits the superlatives he used because “the Chinese technology of the milling plant is state-of-the-art technology that is not like any other ordinary milling plant.”

The K26million UNZA milling plant which is situated some 20km east of Lusaka, in Chongwe district is one of the three milling plants that the People’s Republic of China donated to the Zambian government through the presidential milling initiative.

The other two, whose production capacity is 240 tons per day, are in Mpika and Monze. They are being managed by the Zambia National Service (ZNS).

“We requested this one, which is the smallest of the three, to be donated to UNZA so we can use it to develop and offer milling science training programmes in the School of Engineering so that we can have experts in running milling plants,” says Prof. Mumba.

He adds: “…also that when we train people, they can also go and work in other milling plants as professionals while at the same time, use it to process maize products for income generation at the institution. We are under pressure to reduce our reliance on government grants.”

Currently, it is only South Africa and Kenya that are offering programmes in milling science in the region.

The milling plant has a production capacity of 40 tons per day, translating in a maximum of 800 bags of mealie meal.

The milling plant systems, whose construction works finished last year, have since been tested and gauged for effectiveness and efficiency.

The plant is still yet to be officially commissioned.

“We are currently using a generator to power the plant. The area [Liempe Farm] is yet to be supplied with electricity. We have already paid to Zesco and made numerous attempts to have it [power] connected there, but we have failed. Let me take this opportunity to appeal to them [Zesco] through you, that they connect power to the place,” he says.

Prof. Mumba says once Zesco connects electricity to the facility, it will be able to operate on a daily basis.

The UNZA milling plant is currently producing breakfast mealie meal (K135 per 25kg bag), roller mealie meal (K100 per 25kg bag), and maize bran (K100 per 50kg).

“…but our aspirations are that when we officially commissioned it and we start running at full capacity, we shall be able to supply at a large scale,” he says. “We also want to start packaging the mealie meal in smaller bags so that our students can also be able to afford it.”

Mick Mwala is the director of the UNZA Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre (ATDC) situated along Great East Road, just opposite the milling plant.

He oversees operations at the plant.

“If you look at the location, this is just within Chongwe district, a farming district. This comes with many benefits to the local small scale farmers here. By us bringing the plant here, closer to them, we are giving them a chance to cut down on transportation costs for their maize,” he says.

He adds: “We won’t even delay in processing payments like some milling companies do.”

Dr. Mwala says on top of buying maize from the locals, the institution which has plenty of land will also look to growing and supplying the milling plant with some of its own maize.

“The locals here are excited about this prospect because they know it will empower them a great deal,” he says.

He says all products before being offloaded to the outlet undergo chemical, microbial and organoleptic tests to make sure that they are not only nutritious, but also safe for both animal and human consumption.

The milling plant which is fully automated also came with a set of spare parts and a team of Chinese technicians who will oversee maintenance of the equipment for some time.

A check at the UNZA Milling Plant retail outlet within the campus revealed that the commodity had almost run out, with new stock being awaited.

“The mealie meal is going very fast. The university community has taken all of it. Breakfast has finished, we are just remaining with these same bags of roller meal that you are seeing,” the sales lady there told this reporter.

The institution which is in a hurry to establish viable revenue generating activities in an attempt to reduce dependence on government grants may have just found the missing answer – and this could be it.

This article was also published in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper of April 19, 2022 on this link http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/unza-takes-on-mealie-meal-business/