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The government of Zimbabwe anticipates maize production in the country will drop by 72% in the 2023/24 season due to an El Nino-induced drought. A crop assessment report revealed this fact, Zimbabwe is one of three Southern African countries to declare the ravaging drought a national disaster, after Zambia and Malawi made similar pronouncements.
According to the government’s crop assessment report, estimated maize production is 634,699 metric tonnes (MT) for the season, representing a 72% decrease from the previous season. Zimbabweans consume 2 million metric tonnes of staple maize every year.
The region is reeling from its worst drought in 40 years, owing to a combination of the naturally occurring El Nino and higher average temperatures produced by greenhouse gas emissions.
El Nino is a weather phenomenon associated with a disruption of wind patterns, which means warmer ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific.
To cover the deficit, Zimbabwe’s government plans to import grain, with its private millers looking to source 1.4 million metric tonnes of white and yellow maize in the next two months from Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Argentina, and America. Zimbabwe has appealed for USD 2 billion from humanitarian agencies and well-wishers to feed millions. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has said the government would reallocate some budgeted funds from other portfolios to fund grain importation.
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The world witnessed record-breaking weather extremes in 2023 as climate change amplified the impacts of El Nino. Although climate change continues to hamper Zimbabwe’s agricultural prospects, the mainstay of its economy, the country has failed to feed itself since 2000, when former President Robert Mugabe seized white-owned farms, disrupting production and leading to sharp falls in output.
