Zimbabwe brings back maize import ban after bumper harvest

📅 Published: August 26, 2025

Curated by AllZimNews.com

We must protect local purchases from our local farmers,” Obert Jiri, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, told Reuters.

Zimbabwe, which consumes about 1. 8 million metric tons of maize annually, saw production fall to around 800,000 metric tons in 2023/24 from 2. 3 million metric tons two years earlier.

That crisis prompted the government to temporarily lift import restrictions to ease food shortages.

Jiri said this year’s recovery, combined with state support programmes such as the Pfumvudza smallholder scheme, has left the country with enough stocks.

Independent analyst Paul Chidziva warned that Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector – which employs around 70 percent of the population – remains vulnerable to droughts and other extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change.

The government is promoting drought-tolerant crops such as sorghum and millet.

Jiri said the current surplus provides a rare opportunity to reinforce food security and reduce reliance on imports.

Zimbabwe spent $300 million in scarce foreign currency importing maize in 2020 as successive droughts left more than half the population in need of food aid. – Reuters on Twitter –>. 🔗

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