NAMIBIA needs to import about 120 000 tonnes of maize to fill the gap in the market due to poor rainfall.
The Agronomic Board
of Namibia's manager of maize and wheat, Antoinette Venter, raised the
concern about the poor rainfall received so far in an interview on
Monday, noting that the production season is only starting now.
"Namibia has
produced very, very little maize locally. We only produced about a
maximum of 30 000 tonnes of irrigation maize. But these are only broad
projections," she noted.
Namibia's 2015
maize crop was 44% lower compared to 2014's (above-average) output,
according to figures released by the Integrated Regional Information
Networks (IRIN) on Thursday. It noted that around half of all dry land
commercial farmers experienced total crop losses as a result of the
drought and high temperatures.
"An estimated 370 316 people are food insecure and the target of a government drought relief programme," it warned.
South Africa is the
biggest victim of the drought. It is the region's main maize producer,
but last year output fell 30% below the bumper 2014 season and it may
have to import around six million tonnes of maize. Planting of the 2016
cereal crop began later than normal due to delayed rains, according to
the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
South Africa has
indicated that this El Niño-induced drought is the worst the country has
suffered in more than half a century. The El Niño global weather event,
which is leading to even worse drought across the region, is already
affecting this year's crop. WFP warned that with little or no rain
falling in many areas and the window for the planting of cereals closing
fast or already closed in some countries, the outlook is "alarming."
"The region is ill
prepared for a shock of this magnitude, particularly since the last
growing season was also affected by drought. This means depleted
regional stocks, high food prices, and substantially increased numbers
of food insecure people," the UN agency added.
Meanwhile, local miller Namib Mills announced price increases on all its product categories, effective 25 January 2016.
The price of maize
meal products increased by 10%, wheat flour by 6%, mahangu meal by 20%
and sugar products by 15%. The price of rice products also increased by
15 to 23% in two categories.
The company said
one of the reasons for the price increases was that pressure of the
drought in southern Africa had increased maize prices dramatically, as
supply declined under the dry conditions.
- Nampa
Source: AllAfrica.com
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