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Herald Reporters
Only 19 425 tonnes of maize out of the 150 000 sourced from Zambia have so far arrived in the country, leaving a huge deficit that needs to be filled as soon as possible to avert hunger following the exhaustion of food reserves by many families.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said in an interview yesterday that the deficit was mainly caused by the refusal to release funds to purchase the maize by former Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
Senior Minister of State Cde Simon Khaya Moyo told the Senate yesterday that Cabinet had tasked Minister Made to look into the country’s food requirements as the Government moves in to avert hunger among the people.
The food situation has worsened in some areas, particularly those that were affected by drought last season.
Minister Made said Government paid only US$2 million for the maize from Zambia and required more funds for the grain to continue coming since the country releases the grain after payments. He said the major bottleneck in the purchasing and transportation of the grain from Zambia was funding.
“We have since made an application to the Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa to avail funds for the procurement of the maize,” said Minister Made. “I hope Minister Chinamasa is making progress so that the coming consignments will not be interrupted.”
Minister Made said the Grain Marketing Board had already received 20 319 tonnes of maize from farmers, but was yet to pay them the combined US$10 million.
He said if the farmers were paid early it could encourage more farmers to deliver their grain to the parastatal.
It was critical, Minister Made said, that more maize was delivered from Zambia before the onset of the rainy season to avoid transportation problems. The rainy season usually sets in during mid-October.
The major areas that are in dire food shortages are Matabeleland South, Masvingo, Midlands and southern parts of Manicaland. “Now some pockets of Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central have also been severely affected,” he said.
In Mashonaland Central areas such as Kamutsenzere, Muzarabani, Rushinga and Guruve are the worst affected, while in Mashonaland East the hard hit areas are Mutoko, Mudzi, Uzumba, Maramba and Pfungwe.
Minister Made said in Matabeleland South, Bulilima and Beitbridge required an urgent supply of 2 000 tonnes each of maize to stabilise the situation. In Insiza, Mangwe requires 3 000 tonnes of maize, while in the Midlands, Gokwe needs 3 500t, Manoti 3 000t, Zhombe 2 000t, Shurugwi 2 700t, Mataga in Mberengwa requires 5 000t and Zvishavane 4 000t.
Minister Made said some delays in the transportation of the maize was also caused by the phytosanitary regulations which required all the grain to be fumigated before entry.
The fumigation usually takes between seven and 14 days before the grain can be opened.
Government has also been assisting livestock farmers in drought stricken areas with hay and supplementary stock feeds.
Online Reporter