Zimbabwe’s agriculture minister has predicted that the country will harvest its total annual requirement of 1,8-million tonnes of maize, contradicting aid agencies who believe that well below that amount will be reaped, reports said on Tuesday.
Joseph Made told a Parliamentary portfolio committee that this year’s harvest would ”significantly improve” because Zimbabwe has had a good rainy season, reported the state-controlled The Herald newspaper.
The authorities say repeated drought has led to crop failures ever since a controversial programme of white land seizures was launched six years ago.
The maize harvest will not all be delivered to the state, Made said.
”We expect 1,8-million tonnes total harvest and we expect to purchase 900 000 tonnes, which suggests that the other 900 000 tonnes will be retained by the farmers,” he was quoted as saying.
Zimbabwe needs exactly 1,8-million tonnes of maize to feed its population of 11,6-million.
The minister said the harvest could have been even bigger ”had there been adequate inputs” of fuel, fertiliser and other chemicals, said The Herald.
He said Zimbabwe would continue importing grain to build up its strategic grain reserves.
Made has provoked criticism in previous years for predicting a ”bumper harvest” when only poor crops materialised, but this time he appears confident.
In a report in March the United States-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network predicted there would be ”improved maize production compared to last year’s estimate of 550 000 tonnes, but well below the 1990s average, and well below national consumption requirements.”
The government went on to ban aid agencies from conducting crop assessments in rural areas.
Agencies say around three million Zimbabweans are currently in need of food aid. — Sapa-dpa