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Wheat production to decline

    ABIDJAN

    The Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) has projected a decline of 60 percent in local wheat production in the 2000/2001 farming season because of escalating production costs and the proliferation of cheap imports.

    The official ‘Times of Zambia’ newspaper reported on Monday that ZNFU president Ajay Vashee said the number of local wheat producers had continued to decrease in the last three years because of dwindling returns on the crop.

    The paper quoted Vashee as saying Zambia was expected to produce less than 60,000 mt of wheat this season, a figure which was far less than the 90,000 mt the country produced in the previous season. Vashee added that Zambia’s national wheat consumption was 120,000 mt per annum and that subsidised wheat imports which had flooded Zambia discouraged local farmers from fully engaging in the production of the crop.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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