By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Sydney Simelane,the Principal Secretary(PS) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives says, Government through the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise(ESWADE) is already implementing a food security program amid the shocking escalation in food prices.

The PS was responding to this Swaziland News on Tuesday evening,when asked to clarify what government was doing to mitigate the ongoing escalation in food prices that affects consumers.

This comes after this publication conducted a research and discovered that a ten kilogram(10kg) rice and meal-mealie was costing around one hundred and seventy Rands(R170.00) in a country facing the high unemployment rate and low salaries among workers in public and private sector.

“We are aware of the escalating food prices and as Government,we are already implementing a program that seeks to support farmers to produce enough maize so we can have sustainable meal-mealie supply.The program implemented through ESWADE seeks to financially support farmers to produce maize and then sell to the NMC(National Maize Corporation).We have engaged ESWADE and NMC to manage this program and already, ESWADE has delivered maize to the NMC.Even though some farmers are facing climate change challenges, we are working towards tackling those challenges and we hope that this program will enhance food security," said the Principal Secretary(PS) in the Ministry of Agriculture.

The tiny Kingdom situated in Southern Africa and ruled by King Mswati as a absolute Monarch,has about 70% of the population living below the poverty line,the King’s wealth was estimated by Forbes to be around $500million(about R10billion).

But in 2021,the World Bank reported that,the unemployment rate “has escalated to 33.3%” and apart from the ever-escalating costs of basic commodities,the country is also facing a health and education crisis amid shortage of drugs in hospitals and working equipment in schools.

Popular retail shops in eSwatini include Pick&Pay Eswatini,ShopRite,Ok Foods Eswatini and Buy& Save SPAR.

Responding to this Swaziland News on Tuesday evening,Bonsile Mamba,the Chairperson of the Swaziland Rural Women Assembly(SRWA) said, women “are the most affected” amid the escalating costs of food prices in eSwatini.

“As women we are affected by the increase in food prices as some of us are single parents after men ‘ran’ away and refused to maintain their children.We normally find ourselves having to feed the children and now we are struggling to afford food”, said the Chairperson of the Rural Women Assembly.

Reached for comments,Wander Mkhonza,the Secretary General(SG) of the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland(ATUSWA)said, the escalating prices of basic commodities remains a serious challenge for workers who earn low salaries.

“As trade unions,we must change our collective bargaining strategies instead of negotiating every year.Now, we must monitor the food prices and whenever prices goes-up, we must negotiate for an increase in wages,” said the ATUSWA Secretary General.

Speaking to this Swaziland News on the subject matter,lawyer Bhanyaza Mdluli,the Chairman of the Eswatini Consumers Association(ECA) said, as an organization for consumers, they were concerned with the shocking escalation in food prices,he then urged Government to prioritize agriculture as means to enhance food security.

“We are concerned with the escalating food prices as this might result to an increase in criminal activities.But we hope the current government will,as a matter of urgency,prioritize agriculture to enhance food security”, said the Chairman of the Eswatini Consumers Association.