Zimbabwe had a bumper harvest: what went right and what needs work

Zimbabwe - for the first time in a long time - is capable of feeding the country’s 14.65 million people for the next year Eness Paidamoyo Mutsvangwa-Sammie According to Zimbabwe’s Second Crop and Livestock Assessment report and the US department of agriculture, the estimated maize production for 2021 stands at 2.7 million tonnes. This maize yield is estimated to be triple the 2020 harvest. The agricultural sector is projected to grow 34% this year, more than three times the 11% projected in the budget given at the end of last year. The International Monetary Fund reports that Zimbabwe is on a path to economic recovery with a growth forecast of 6% this year, largely due to the maize harvest. Zimbabwe was the single largest maize export destination for neighbouring South Africa in the 2020/21 market year. Of the 2.6 million tonnes of maize that South Africa exported, about 20% went to Zimbabwe. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); In May this year, Zimbabwe’s agricultural marketing authority announced a complete ban on maize imports, citing the expected bumper harvest and surplus. The Zimbabwean government expects to save an estimated US$300 million from the ban.