The move by government to start importing maize from neighbouring Country has been questioned after it has been established that the same government exported 1.1 tons of maize last year.
According to officcial statistics seen by the Zambian Business Times -ZBT, government exported about 1.1 million tons of maize in the marketing year 2022/23 and have now announced their intentions to start importing 650,000 metric tonnes of Maize from foreign Countries aimed at responding to the effects of the drought.
Recently, Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo revealed that Government by the end of this month (April) will start the importation of 650,000 metric tonnes of Maize from South Africa and other countries in East Africa to respond to the effects of the drought that has threatened the National food security after conducting massive exports that has left the Country in a food crisis amid the drought.
Meanwhile, according to a 2023 report by The United States Department of agriculture (USDA) dubbed “Zambia maintains it’s status as a net exporter,” seen by ZBT, Zambia had a record of 1.5 million metric tons of corn available at the start of the marketing year 2022/23.
However, in August 2022, the government announced an upsurge in the demand for Zambian corn in East Africa, especially from Kenya and Zambia’s regional neighbors in Malawi, Angola, Mozambique, and Namibia who also expressed interest in maize imports from Zambia to meet their consumption needs.
The report further revealed that as a result of the demand from the aforementioned countries, Zambia ended up exporting almost 1.1 million tons of corn in the marketing year 2022/23.
“At the start of MY 2022/23, Zambia had a record of 1.5 MMT of corn available. In August 2022, the government announced an upsurge in the demand for Zambian corn in East Africa, especially from Kenya, which was suffering from drought conditions. In addition, Zambia’s regional neighbors, including Malawi, Angola, Mozambique, and Namibia, also expressed interest in corn imports from Zambia to meet consumption needs. As a result, Post estimates Zambia exported almost 1.1 million tons of corn in MY 2022/23,” revealed the report.
