Agricultural Marketing Board in Restructuring Mode

Its main recommendations are: expanding the scope of operations of the AMB, diversification, opening new outlets across the country, resizing of human resources, development of additional storage facilities for lease in private and revision of the list of controlled products.

Under this restructuring program, it is proposed to employees who have reached the age of 57 or having at least 15 years of service to retire under an early retirement scheme. This group includes 26 people out of a total of 160. The early retirement scheme will cost about Rs 14.6 million.

It was in November 2009 that the firm DCDM Africa Holdings Ltd had made recommendations for the transformation of AMB into a commercial entity and the establishment of a regulatory unit under the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security to support the regulatory functions of the AMB. At that time, the finances of the AMB were in the red with a bank overdraft of Rs 100 M. This was done to improve the performance of the parastatal body.

In 2012, the European Union, through the payment of a subsidy from the general budget support from 2012 to 2013, selected five public companies, including AMB, for a restructuring and reform in depth, so that they can generate at least a 5% return on new investments. It was agreed that the AMB preserve its social functions after being transformed into a commercial entity. AMB is currently offering a range of social services such as guaranteed products planters prices and also affordable prices for consumers, while ensuring that the products are available at all times in sufficient quantity.

From 2009 to 2012, AMB has made net profits as follows: Rs 22.3 million (2009), Rs 15.6 million (2010), Rs 61.4 million (2011), Rs 71.3 million (2012 ).