JOHANNESBURG, 8 March (IRIN): Zimbabwe missed an opportunity to produce sufficient crops to meet national consumption requirements this season due to inadequate inputs and uncertainty about land rights, says an agricultural expert.
The Southern african country has experienced food shortages over the last four years, mainly due to erratic weather conditions, the impact of the chaotic fast-track land reform programme on the agricultural sector and a lack of foreign currency to import inputs, such as fuel and fertiliser.
Wheat stocks have dwindled to the point where millers have warned that supplies would only cover a few more weeks, while the crop forecast for the maize harvest this year points to another deficit in production.
The agricultural expert, who did not wish to be named, told IRIN that Zimbabwe “had a very small wheat crop last year”, and the current low supply was a result of “imports not keeping pace with consumption”.
In terms of maize, “we are looking at a similar crop to last year, between 700.000 and 850.000 metric tons, so we are probably looking at a shortfall of between 500.000 and 600.000 metric tons”.
The lack of wheat was critical because bread played an important role in the national diet as a substitute for the staple maize-meal porridge.
– The biggest problem is that the maize-meal price has gone up because the current crop is not yet ready for harvest – it is probably in peak demand right now – and the price has shot up to 500.000 Zimbabwe dollar (about 31 DKR] per 20 kg of milled maize, the expert noted.
The official Herald newspaper reported that a 10 kg bag of maize meal was selling for up to 600.000 Zim dollar (about 37 DKR) on the parallel market. As a result, the staple was priced beyond the reach of a large proportion of the population.
– If there is no maize meal around, or people cannot afford it, they will consume bread – it is an important part of the local diet – but, again because of the shortages of wheat, the price has gone up to 70.000 Zim. dollar (ca. 5 DKR) for a loaf. It used to be around 35.000 Zim. dollar (2,50 DKR), the expert explained.
Although bread was available in shops, it too had become relatively unaffordable to the millions of Zimbabweans struggling to make ends meet as the countrys economic meltdown continues.
– We are struggling; we missed an opportunity this planting season to become self-sufficient. We could have produced well in excess of our consumption requirements had there been the inputs available for farmers to plant, as we had a very good season in terms of rain, he commented.
The agricultural expert noted that banks were loath (tilbageholdende) to lend money to farmers, given the uncertainty over security of tenure, so that “financing, fuel, electricity, fertiliser and chemicals are all limitations. Anything that has a foreign currency component, that we have to import, is in short supply”.
Kilde: FN-bureauet IRINnews
