Zambian bans maize exports due to food shortage

Zambia’s government has banned the export of maize, the country’s staple food, because it anticipates severe domestic food shortages. An AFP report on Saturday quoted an official statement as saying that the country needed to stockpile as much of the staple food as it could. “These measures to suspend the export of maize and maize meal are backed by ... the laws of Zambia and are in line with emergency measures embodied in the World Trade Organisation agreement to which Zambia is a signatory. To ensure sufficient stocks during the shortfall period which will be between November and April 2002, the country must start stockpiling now,” read the statement which was signed by Agriculture Minister Misheck Chiinda and Commerce Minister Yusuf Badat. The report said that according to the local farmers’ union, the country was expected to experience a maize shortfall of between 150,000 and 200,000 mt. It also said that according to government estimates, about 2 million people in the country were likely to face hunger because their crops had been washed away by devastating floods which swept through much of southern Africa at the beginning of the year. “Government is very concerned about the maize shortfall and will do everything possible to avoid prices escalating,” the statement said. A committee was put created early this year to work out ways of averting food riots by ensuring that enough grain is stored in the country.