Zim likely to continue importing maize from Zambia despite bumper harvest expectations

Agricultural and Rural Development Authority board chairperson, Basil Nyabadza, told NewsDay last week that Zimbabwe is likely to continue importing maize from Zambia and South Africa to meet its national needs despite the recent projections of a bumper harvest made by the Agriculture ministry.

Said Nyabadza:

We are happy that we were blessed with good rains this year and this means our dams will be full and most of our farmers are expecting a very good harvest, but there will be some grain imports, particularly maize to supplement our national needs, but it will not be much. We are yet to have a complete assessment of the impact of the rains, but as for maize, while other farmers were affected, the general outlook points to a bumper harvest. We will have to assess the small grains before saying anything on them.

Nyabadza also said government was already on the drawing board looking at the challenges faced by farmers during the 2016-2017 season, with the view to making improvements in the 2017-2018 season.