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Zimbabwe is facing corn and wheat shortages after a prolonged period of dry weather, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report.

The corn crop probably won’t exceed 600,000 metric tons, while the wheat crop won’t be more than 18,000 tons, the USDA said. Zimbabwe has an annual corn requirement of 1.2 million metric tons, according to the report.
While access to farming inputs in Zimbabwe has greatly improved after the implementation of subsidies, the country is “experiencing prolonged dry spells that are threatening corn production,” the USDA said. The number of Zimbabweans facing hunger will rise to 2.17 million in the first quarter of this year from 1.74 million in the previous three months, the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Famine Early Warning Network said yesterday. Zimbabwe has depended on food aid from donor nations since 2001.

The country’s agriculture ministry and farmers’ organizations put the annual corn requirement at 1.8 million tons, including corn used in livestock feed. In addition to donor-funded aid to small-scale farmers, the Zimbabwe government provided $210 million in loans to both small and large-scale farmers to boost production, the USDA report said.

Corn and corn meal, the staple food, remain “generally available,” with corn grain prices averaging 28 U.S. cents a kilogram (2.2 pounds) since May 2009. “A number of factors such as the liberalization of grain trade, waiver of import duties on basic foods and the dollarization of the economy have contributed positively to food availability,” said the USDA.

Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency in February 2009, opting to use mainly the U.S. dollar and the South African rand. The move came after inflation reached more than a million percent and helped refill shop shelves after 10 years of shortages.

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