Zimbabwe is discussing with Uganda on the possibility of importing maize from the East African country which has a surplus of the grain, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Sunday.
The Zimbabwean leader announced that Agriculture Minister Perrence Shiri is currently in Kampala to iron out the modalities of the transaction, which would see Uganda selling millions of metric tonnes to Zimbabwe in coming weeks.
“I sent Minister Shiri to arrange the procurement of grain from Uganda,” Mnangagwa told the state-owned Sunday Mail.
He said the decision to import from Uganda followed an offer by President Yoweri Museveni on the sidelines of last week’s 33rd African Union Summit in Ethiopia.
More than eight million Zimbabweans are facing acute hunger blamed on a poor harvest during the 2018/19 season and a deteriorating economic crisis in what was once one of southern Africa’s breadbasket.
JN/APA