Southern Africa is battling a drought brought on by El Niño and it’s hitting crop production. (Westend61/Getty Images).
Maize output in Zimbabwe will drop by almost three-quarters
this year as the nation experiences its worst drought in four decades,
according to the government.
Output of the staple grain in the 2023-24 season that ends 31
May is estimated at 634 699 tons, down 72% from last year, according to a final
crop assessment seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by the Agriculture Ministry.
That compares with a previous forecast of 868 237 tons.
“Statistically, the season had the latest and driest
start to a summer season in 40 years,” the government said in its Second
Round of Crops, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment report.
The El Niño weather phenomenon has triggered a dry spell in
southern Africa that’s slashed South Africa’s maize crop by at least a fifth
and led countries including Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe to declare states of
national disaster because of crop failures.
Zimbabwean grain millers plan to import at least 1.4 million
tons of maize by July to address the shortfall.
READ | SA food supplies still at ‘comfortable levels’ as region battles El Niño, govt says
Farmers in Zimbabwe planted 1.78 million hectares of maize
this season, a 7% reduction on the target area and 12% lower than the amount
sown last year, it said. The decline reflected “agroecological tailoring
and a shift to traditional grains in drier regions,” the report said.
Zimbabwe consumes 2.2 million tons of maize annually, with
1.8 million tons used for food and 400 000 tons used for livestock feed.
The report warned that the continued disruption of global
supply chains for food, fuel and fertiliser supply; and geopolitical
developments, principally in major input and crop supply regions, “heightens
the need and urgency for Zimbabwe to attain seed, food, feed, fibre, bio-oils
and biofuels sovereignty.”