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Zimbabwe likely to miss maize output target again

07 January 2014 03:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Zimbabwe is unlikely to produce as much maize as it anticipates in 2014, the country's farmers' union said Monday, adding to the fear that the country's worst food shortage in four years might continue, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Maize is Zimbabweans' staple food. The government has set aside 1.65 million hectares for planting and expects the maize output to reach 1.3 million tons this year, up from 800,000 tons in 2013.

Despite of good rain, that target is likely to be missed because farmers do not have enough money to buy farming inputs and managed to plant only 70 percent of the land allocated for maize planting, said Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Wonder Chabikwa.

"Seed and fertilizers are available from the shops but the farmers do not have the money to purchase," state media quoted Chabikwa as saying.

With a population of 1.3 million, Zimbabwe's annual maize consumption is 2.2 million tons. The World Food Program estimates that before the harvest season in April, about 2.2 million rural Zimbabweans will need food aid. The country has relied on imports from Zambia and South Africa to stave off the hunger.