Staff Reporter
Government has unveiled an updated strategy to ensure national food security, presenting the 2023/2024 Summer Crops Marketing and Food Security Outlook to March 2025, along with the 2024 Winter Cereals Plan.
The update highlights a series of measures to address the country's grain requirements and enhance food security over the coming year.
In a post-Cabinet briefing today, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere provided an assessment of the country’s food balance sheet to March 2025, noting that around 6.2 million people in rural areas will require food assistance.
“Based on the rural population's needs and the requirements for the school feeding program through to April 2025, the total grain needed is estimated at 464,608.54 metric tonnes.
“Currently, the Strategic Grain Reserve holds 264,246 metric tonnes of wheat, maize, and traditional grains, not including an additional 32,314 metric tonnes that the Government has already imported. To cover the remaining shortfall of 200,362.54 metric tonnes, the Government plans to use a surplus from the upcoming winter wheat harvest and import an extra 300,000 metric tonnes,” Minister Muswere stated.
In addition Dr Muswere explained the Government’s efforts to strengthen food distribution, by accelerating the movement of grain between depots from August to October 2024.
“We are accelerating the movement of grain between depots from August to October 2024 to ensure that food reaches all corners of the country swiftly and efficiently. The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is also expanding its operations with 50 Agro-shops now active, supported by 12 hammer mills primarily in rural and peri-urban areas. These Agro-shops will ensure that essential commodities such as mealie-meal, sugar, rice, salt, flour, soap, and cooking oil are available, accessible, and affordable," Dr. Muswere explained.
Complementary to these efforts, Silo Foods is supplying a range of products including coffee, bran, dried kapenta, flour, maize-meal, and traditional mealie-meal to further stabilize food prices and enhance product availability.
Meanwhile, the private sector is expected to play a significant role by importing all stock-feed requirements, estimated at 400,000 metric tonnes, and urban maize requirements of up to 450,000 metric tonnes by March 2025.
“To date, 567,160 metric tonnes have been imported, and we have active import permits for 1.8 million metric tonnes of maize," Dr. Muswere noted.
Regarding the 2024 Winter Cereals Plan, Minister Muswere highlighted the significant progress made by Government.
“121,982 hectares of wheat, 2,100 hectares of maize, 3,732 hectares of potatoes, 6,449 hectares of barley, and 3,000 hectares of seed wheat has already been planted, our wheat-based food security strategy is robust and sufficient to meet our needs through to March 2025,” Minister Muswere highlighted.
The Government’s comprehensive plan aims to ensure food security through a balanced approach that includes domestic production, strategic reserves, and imports. As the situation develops, the Government will continue to monitor food stocks and implement measures to address any emerging challenges.
