- Maize import bill has been reduced by 81.78%
- Rainfall patterns projections are set to be above average for November 2022-January 2023 period in Zimbabwe
ZIMSTAT’s latest publication has revealed a shrinking maize import bill, paring 81% compared to the 2021 import bill. The significantly lower recorded import bill proves that Zimbabwe has produced enough maize reserves that served better than those recorded for the comparison period last year.
Zimbabwe has broadly been living in the support of the SADC countries despite its mandate to be the main pillar in the agricultural supply duties of the region. In the worst-case scenario, the economy imported US$229m worth of maize in 2007/2008, according to United Nations Food and Agricultural updates. The economic realization from the outlook has been pretty decent for general agricultural development, albeit not reaching the heights of the “bread basket of Africa”.
The most recent monthly report from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) shows that the Treasury imported maize for US$1,5 million in August. The country purchased maize worth US$20,2 million year-to-date, which is 81,78% less than the US$110.3 million spent on the grain, the previous year. This has accelerated the rate of food security in the economy benchmarking from the June 2020- June 2021 maize imports which recorded US$44,993,977.96.
The outlook is that the stellar movements realized from the agricultural sector are projected to further improve owing to favourable rainfall patterns projections which have started showing their effects in some parts of the country since the end of October. According to Metrological offices, Zimbabwe’s western and southern regions are anticipated to experience above-average to average rainfall for the months of December to February (DJF) and January to March (JFM) in 2023, while the majority of the country's northern and eastern provinces are anticipated to experience normal to above-average precipitation.
