Zambia Philately: 1964 Independence First Definitive Issue – ½d Maize

From the 1960s onward, food and agricultural subsidies in Zambia focused heavily on maize,
given the political power of mine worker unions that lobbied for these in response
to urban consumers’ preference for maize meal, which developed under colonial era policy.

Northern Rhodesia failed to produce enough maize to satisfy urban demand, and imports were required, mainly from the south. Prices to the mining companies rose, and they lobbied hard for reductions, and from this point on the Board began to subsidise consumers, and so operated at a loss.

By the late 1950s and early 1960s production was in surplus again, but a political culture of support for white farmers and subsidies for the operation of the mines had been established as part of the expected political landscape. Preferential treatment of the white farmers continued more or less right up to the end of the colonial period.