HARARE: Zimbabwe risks serious food shortages if government fails to procure grain from neighbouring countries, agriculture deputy minister Paddy Zhanda has warned.
Zhanda Thursday told delegates at a national food conference in the capital that the country is in dire need of grain and requires 700,000 tonnes of maize as some areas did not receive adequate rainfall.
He said anyone was free to import maize from anywhere, as long as the country’s food and safety standards were met.
“Zimbabwe has no problem with where the grain comes from as long as the food and safety standards of the country are followed,” said Zhanda.
Speaking at the same occasion, Executive Director of Grain Traders Association of Zambia, Jacob Mwale said Zambia has surplus grain but logistical problems could hinder transportation of the grain to Zimbabwe.
“Zambia has the capacity to supply Zimbabwe with 700,000 metric tonnes of grain but logistical problems can only allow 400,000 tonnes to be brought into the country on time.
“Zambia can only export 40 000 tonnes per month if the situation at borders does not change and our target of exporting the 700 000 tones cannot be met,” said Mwale.
The Zambian however, suggested South Africa would be ideal to supply the other 300,000 tonnes but unfortunately has genetically modified (GMO) grain which Zimbabwe does not recommend for human consumption.
“Zambia and Zimbabwe need a joint cooperation to bring in maize to this country.
“My country has surplus grain to export to other nations but borders of these nations should be kept open and so far Zimbabwe has only received 136 000 tonnes of grain from us,” said Mwale.
He added that trucks take too long to load and clearance issues are some of the problems which make transportation very difficult, something both countries need to work on.
Mwale said borders on both sides should open for more hours and the rail system should be considered as a means of transportation to speed up the process.
In May this year, agriculture minister Joseph Made revealed that Zimbabwe needed to import over 700,000 tones of grain following a dry spell that affected crops in most parts of the country with only 150 000 tonnes in stock around that time.
