The Sunday News
Joseph Katete
THE Grain Marketing Board (GMB), the country’s leading grain trade and marketing company was established in 1931 as the Maize Control Board.
Its main responsibility was to accord local maize producers their fair share of the local and export markets and also to provide them with a guaranteed outlet for their excess maize produced. The establishment of the board was also to ensure the availability of adequate supplies of maize for the local demand either from internal production or from exports.
It was renamed the Grain Marketing Board in 1951 under the Grain Marketing Act (Chapter 18:14).
The responsibilities of the institution remained fundamentally unchanged although many commodities in addition to maize were added under the control of the Grain Marketing Board.
Some of the commodities that the GMB continues to trade in up to today include wheat, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, sunflower, sugar beans, soya beans and many others.
In 1996 during a Debt Take Over Agreement with Government, the GMB was modified from being fundamentally a developmental or social institution to include being commercially oriented commodity trading organidation.
The Debt Take Over Agreement saw the GMB engaging in commercial activities such as milling leading to the birth of the Silo Range of products.
The Government however, through a Cabinet resolution in May 2018, directed that all commercial activities of the GMB be separated from its core Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) functions.
This led to the demerger of GMB into two entities namely the Strategic Grain Reserve and Silo Food Industries.
Vision: A centre of excellence in grain management by 2030.
Mission: To ensure national food security through the efficient and sustainable management of the Strategic Grain Reserve.
Core Values: Teamwork. Innovation. Accountability. Customer Care. Integrity. Transparency.
The GMB boasts of a wide depot network and currently it has 87 depots throughout the country. These depots buy grain throughout the year.
