PODCAST: Helping a neighbour — South Africa continues to supply maize to Zimbabwe

Whenever I see challenges in South African agriculture, Zimbabwe is the other country I think of; its problems are often worse. South Africa typically has to carry Zimbabwe when there are challenges, specifically in staple grain production.

Consider the 2023/2024 production year, when Zimbabwe had a difficult season due to the midsummer drought in Southern Africa. Zimbabwe’s maize harvest fell nearly 60% to about 635,000t, the lowest since the 2015/2016 production season, when the country also experienced a drought.

Though a significant factor, the drought is not the only reason for the fall in Zimbabwe’s maize harvest. The decline in fertiliser use also contributed to poor yields. While fertiliser prices are down from the previous year, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels, adding financial strain on farmers. Fertiliser makes up roughly a third of grain farmers’ input costs.

This significant decline in Zimbabwe’s maize production led to a sharp increase in imports, and South Africa played an important role in supplying maize to its northern neighbour (at market prices).

To understand how much maize Zimbabwe needs to import, consider its annual consumption of about 2Mt. Therefore, with a harvest of 635,000t, the country needs at least 1Mt in the 2024/2025 marketing year, which ends in April, to meet domestic needs (the 2024/2025 marketing year corresponds with the 2023/2024 production season).

Of course, this is a significant increase from the 637,327t imported in the 2023/2024 marketing year, all from South Africa.

Between May 2024 and the first week of January 2025, South Africa exported 907,318t of maize to Zimbabwe. This is about 57% of South Africa’s total maize exports to the world market during this period.

Listen to the podcast for more insights.

Richard Humphries, Sam Mkokeli, Nelisiwe Tshabalala and Amanda Murimba produce this podcast