Report Highlights:
Zimbabwe’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to drop by almost 60 percent in marketing year 2024/25 due to extreme drought conditions associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon. More than half of Zimbabwe’s planted corn area was destroyed by the drought, and the consequent reduction in grain production forced the Zimbabwean President to declare a “State of Disaster.” Post estimates that Zimbabwe will have to import approximately 1.0 million metric tons of corn in marketing year 2024/25 to meet local demand. With other corn-producing countries in the region, including South Africa, Zambia, and Malawi, also impacted by the drought, Zimbabwe will have to source some of its corn imports on the global market. While Zimbabwe allows GE corn imports, shipments must be quarantined before being milled into corn meal, the national staple.
Executive Summary
Post estimates that Zimbabwe will have to import approximately 1.0 million metric tons (MMT) of corn in marketing year (MY) 2024/25 to meet food security demands. This calculation is based on an almost 60 percent drop in year-over-year corn production, to 635,000 metric tons (MT), and a domestic demand of approximately 1.9 MMT of corn. Extreme drought conditions associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon resulted in total failure of more than half of the country’s planted corn area. Corn is the main staple food and the single most important crop in Zimbabwe. Corn production in Zimbabwe is dominated by smallholder farmers who have limited access to irrigation technologies. As a result, more than 90 percent of corn production is entirely dependent on rainfall.
In the past, Zimbabwe depended on neighboring countries like South Africa and Zambia for corn imports. In MY 2023/24, Zimbabwe imported almost 640,000 MT of corn from South Africa. However, with South Africa’s corn crop also impacted by the drought, dropping by almost 20 percent, and Zambia set to import at least 1.0 MMT of corn to meet domestic demand, supply in the southern Africa region will be tight in MY 2024/25. Hence, Zimbabwe will have to source some corn on the global market. The Zimbabwean government announced that it plans to obtain corn, with the support of private millers, from Brazil, Russia, Argentina, and the United States. While Zimbabwe allows genetically engineered (GE) corn imports, shipments must be quarantined before being milled into corn meal, the national staple.
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