Zimbabwe has warned that the scorching El Niño weather has caused a 12% decline in agricultural land planted with maize, threatening the country's staple food and potentially causing price hikes and social unrest.
In its latest Crop and Livestock Assessment Report, the Ministry of Agriculture said: “We expect panic buying and hoarding of grains by households and traders, which could lead to faster-than-expected demand, even in areas with surplus production. We will run out of grain.” “This will cause a significant increase in grain prices.”
The area planted to maize, which is essential to the southern African country's diet, fell to 1.73 million hectares (4.27 million acres) in the 2023-24 season from 1.96 million hectares the previous year, the ministry said.
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The entire southern African region suffered the driest February in decades, with soaring food prices hitting poor families hard and Zambia declaring the drought a national disaster.
According to the ministry, Zimbabwe's growing regions are experiencing a prolonged drought lasting more than 28 days, causing damage to crops in various regions.
“While certain crops are wilting temporarily, others are showing signs of permanent wilting,” the ministry said.
According to the report, Zimbabwe consumes 2.2 million tonnes of grain annually, of which 1.8 million tonnes is used for food and 400,000 tonnes is used as feed.
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