AGRICULTURE NEWS - News that Zimbabwe’s government has significantly relaxed import and pricing controls on staple foodstuffs, is an opportunity for South Africa to increase exports of maize and wheat to its neighbour, according to Grain SA.
Media reports have indicated that this decision by the Zimbabwean government was prompted by current and projected food shortages in that country.
A 2019 report on Zimbabwe by the Southern African Development Community’s Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis Programme, said that the country was struggling with significantly depressed agricultural production, largely due to ongoing drought conditions in combination outbreaks of pests and diseases in both crops and livestock.
The report added that an estimated 5,5 million of Zimbabwe’s just over 14 million people were now food insecure and “require emergency cereal (maize grain) assistance amounting to [about] 818 300t”.
Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly.
