The Zimbabwe government has ruled out imports of wheat over the coming 12 months amid indications that the country has recorded a bumper harvest of the cereal this year, a cabinet minister said on Thursday.
According to the privately owned NewsDay, Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said the country harvested 380,000 tonnes of wheat during the just-ended winter wheat production season against annual demand of 350,000 tonnes.
“The policy position for wheat is also that government will not be importing any wheat. We have enough,” Masuka is quoted as saying.
Zimbabwe has over the years relied on imports of the cereal, a development that has seen the country perennially experiencing bread shortages.
The situation was recently worsened by the disruption to the global supply chain in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s largest wheat producers.
Masuka revealed that the Harare authorities would use the current surplus to build a strategic wheat reserve.
JN/APA