Maize deficit in southern districts

Zimbabwe should consider importing maize soon to meet domestic requirements amid expectations of a deficit due to a lower 2000/01 crop, USAID’s food security unit recommended on Tuesday. “Based on production prospects and current maize stocks in the country, Zimbabwe needs to consider importing maize soon, especially from South Africa, to meet requirements in the southern districts,” Reuters quoted a report by the Harare office of the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) as saying. “These districts now have a maize deficit and will not meet their requirements with the 2000/01 crop. Food aid programs have to be initiated now in these districts and contingency measures need to be planned for the 2001/02 marketing year,” FEWS said in its latest report on Zimbabwe. The maize harvest estimate of 1.03 million to 1.2 million mt was 50 percent less than last year’s production and 40 percent less than the average for the 1990s, the agency added. “The anticipated maize production combined with the carryover stocks will not be adequate to meet domestic consumption estimated at two million mt excluding the Strategic Grain Reserve requirement of 500,000 mt. Thus, a maize deficit of 400,000 to 600,000 mt is possible. This deficit could be met by government imports, provided foreign currency does not remain a problem,” FEWS said. Zimbabwe has been plagued by an acute foreign currency shortage since late 1999 which has hampered crucial imports, including fuel, Reuters noted.