ZIMBABWE* (13 February)
The central and south-eastern parts of the country have received the highest amount of cumulative rainfall since the start of the current agricultural season in October. Crops in eastern and the northern parts of the country are affected by the below normal precipitation. Farmers have been facing seed, fertilizer, fuel, spare parts and draught power shortages which may have lead to the use of sub-standard planting material and reduced planted area. According to the National Early Warning Unit, the area planted to maize this year is estimated at 1.21 million hectares, about 12 percent below last year’s plantings.
The estimate for the wheat harvest in November-December 2003 has been put at 126 000 tonnes, better than the early forecast of 90 000 tonnes, but much below last year’s and the five-year average levels of production. However, this has little impact on the overall food balance. An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission in May estimated the 2003 cereal production at 1 million tonnes, including forecast for the winter wheat and barley crops. At this level, production is 46 percent higher than the poor level of last year but still well below average. The cereal import requirement for 2003/04 is estimated at 1.3 million tonnes, of which maize accounts for 980 000 tonnes. In spite of an increase in cereal production domestic production cannot even cover half of the country’s cereal requirements in 2003/04. Escalating inflation, currently in the order of 600 percent per annum, is further eroding the purchasing power of the already low levels of income, thus greatly limiting access to food for the most vulnerable population estimated at 5.5 million. The country received pledges of about 277 250 tonnes of food (about 80 percent of the appealed amount) by late January 2004 while total cereal food aid needs for the year are estimated at 610 000 tonnes. The Government is slowly releasing maize grain for distribution out of its 240 000 tonnes of locally purchased stocks.