Zimbabwe imports maize to stave off hunger

Zimbabwe is being forced to import maize to feed rural people after poor crop yields until the next harvest in April. Image: Global Giving

"We are importing maize from South Africa to cover the gap between now and the next harvest," deputy agriculture minister David Marapira told AFP.

He said at least 2.2m people in rural areas will require food aid before the April harvest, according to a survey by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, which groups government and aid agencies.

"So far, we have received 300 tons by road through Bulawayo. The total we are importing is 150,000 tons and we are hoping this will last us between now and April," Marapira said

Zimbabwe has been facing perennial food shortages prompting the government to import maize from neighbours to augment local production.

Poor food production has been blamed on land reforms, which saw the seizure of white-owned commercial farmers under President Robert Mugabe's land reforms, for redistribution to landless blacks.

The government says poor rains in recent years are to blame for the drop in food production.

Zimbabwe needs over 2m tons of maize annually but last year the country produced just 800,000 tons, sharply down from 1.4m tons the previous year.

"We are still getting maize imports from Zambia but the movement of the maize has been very slow," Marapira said.

Zimbabwe has a population of almost 14m people.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge