Zimbabwe Reimposes Maize Import Ban After Bumper Harvest

Edited By: Tendai Zola

 Zimbabwe has reinstated its ban on maize imports after recording a bumper harvest, a move aimed at protecting local farmers and strengthening food security, officials confirmed Monday.

According to Obert Jiri, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, favorable rains and state-backed farming programmes have enabled the country to produce enough maize to meet domestic demand. “We assess the situation daily. We must protect local purchases from our farmers,” he told Reuters.

Zimbabwe consumes around 1.8 million metric tons of maize annually. Production had slumped to about 800,000 tons in the 2023/24 season due to an El Niño-induced drought, forcing the government to temporarily suspend import restrictions, including on genetically modified maize.

This year’s recovery is attributed in part to the Pfumvudza smallholder scheme, which supports subsistence farmers across the country. The improved harvest now allows Zimbabwe’s millers to rely entirely on domestic supplies.

However, analysts caution that the sector remains fragile. Independent agriculture expert Paul Chidziva noted that farming – which employs nearly 70% of Zimbabwe’s population – is still highly vulnerable to recurrent droughts and extreme weather linked to climate change.

In response, the government is encouraging the cultivation of drought-tolerant crops such as sorghum and millet. Officials say the current surplus offers a rare opportunity to reinforce long-term food security and reduce reliance on costly imports.

Zimbabwe has previously spent hundreds of millions of dollars on maize imports. In 2020 alone, it used about $300 million in scarce foreign currency to address shortages caused by successive droughts, which left more than half of the population in need of food aid.