The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) monitors trends in staple food prices in countries vulnerable to food insecurity. Foreach FEWS NET country and region, the Price Bulletin provides a set of charts showing monthly prices in the current marketing year inselected urban centers and allowing users to compare current trends with both five-year average prices, indicative of seasonal trends, andprices in the previous year.
Maize grain and maize flour are the main foods consumed by allhouseholds in Zimbabwe. These food items are both producedlocally and imported from neighboring countries particularly in thesouth western provinces of the country. The markets monitored arethe main markets that offer both wholesale and retail supply in therespective regions of the country. Mbare in Harare is the largestmarket for the country which also supplies other markets, andrepresentative of Mashonaland Central, West and East which aresurplus producing areas; Kombayi in Gweru represents markets incentral Zimbabwe covering Midlands province, Sakubva in Mutareis the main link market in the eastern part of the country mainlyalong the border with Mozambique. Mucheke in Masvingo, Renkiniin Bulawayo, and Gwanda markets are the main supply markets inthe south western provinces of Masvingo, Matebeleland North andSouth provinces.
From 2009 until early 2019, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabweimplemented a multicurrency system. All price data were reportedin USD. During the first half of 2019, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwetransitioned away from a multicurrency system and all priceswere collected and reported in ZWL.
Between 2019 and March 2020, ZWL depreciated rapidly and contributed to high inflation. In March 2020 thegovernment attempted to fixed the exchange rate at 25 ZWL to USD. By June 2020, authorities introduced a foreignexchange auction system and allowed the use of the USD again for domestic transactions. While some formalbusinesses and SMEs are benefiting from the auction system, the demand for USD remains elevated, fueling parallelmarket exchange rates. Today, prices are reported in ZWL in formal shops (such as supermarkets) and often in USDon open markets.
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