HARARE, March 19 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe faces a huge grain
deficit this year after a third of the current maize crop was
written off due to a prolonged dry spell, state media reported
on Monday.
The southern African country, once a regional bread basket,
has struggled to feed itself since 2000 when President Robert
Mugabe embarked on the seizure of white-owned commercial farms
to resettle landless blacks.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told the state-controlled
Herald newspaper that the government had halted sales from its
strategic grain reserves after a state crop assessment showed
that a third of the 1.689 million hectares put under maize had
been declared a write-off.
Although the production of the staple maize has rebounded
from its low of 400,000 tonnes in 2007/08 to 1.35 million tonnes
in 2010/11, the country still struggles to meet its annual grain
consumption of nearly 2 million tonnes.
Zimbabwe is likely to resort to grain imports, although
there were fears that regional suppliers South Africa, Zambia
and Malawi may not be in a position to export.
“There are indications that our neighbouring countries are
likely to have grain shortages. We are calling farmers to…show
how much in terms of grain they are likely to deliver,” Made was
quoted as saying.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; editing by Jason Neely)
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