Private sector tackles wheat shortage
BUSINESS REPORTER
The private sector has mobilised the necessary resources to beef up wheat production in response to the government’s call to support and plant a record crop in 2022.
This is expected to save the economy of millions in US$ spent annually on wheat imports in addition to improving food security.
The private sector contractors, under the umbrella of The Food Crop Contractors Association (FCCA) have financed and ensured the planting of 30,000 hectares of wheat, which is 40% of national production.
The bulk of these plantings, FCCA said, have been at the optimum time and yields of above six tonnes per hectare are expected.
“As a major miller of wheat for the production of bread flour, National Foods, working with PHI and Agrowth, has financed the production of 20,000 hectares, with an expected output of 120,000 tonnes of high-quality wheat,” FCCA said in a statement.
The coming in of private players to help government meet its food self-sufficiency targets is expected to boost confidence among farmers and ensure viability.
The wheat is to be delivered to the country’s largest mills at National Foods Limited in Harare and Bulawayo at harvest, between October and December 2022 and will go a long way to make National Foods self-reliant in local wheat for 2023.
In 2021, Zimbabwe imported wheat worth US$80.6m and latest data from Zimstat for the five months to May shows that there has been a 13.26% decline in wheat imports to US$23.06m from US$26.55m last year.
This is despite the significant price uplift pushed by the Russia-Ukraine war, which has seen global prices rise 28% as at the same period.
Zimbabwe imports the bulk of its wheat from Eastern Europe, while depending on protein requirements it also buys from SA, Canada and Australia.
According to statistics website, Index Mundi, Zimbabwe is the 102nd largest importer of wheat in the world.
Zimbabwe requires about 400 000 metric tonnes of wheat annually.
Last year, Zimbabwe imported nearly half of that at 175 000 tonnes.
