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Senior Business Reporter

ZIMBABWE has adequate maize and wheat stocks that could last beyond the next harvesting season, according to the latest Government report.

In her post-Cabinet briefing yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa reassured the nation that the available grain stocks indicate that the country is food secure.

“Cabinet advises that the grain stocks at GMB as at 5 December, 2022 stood at 551 032 metric tonnes, comprising 472 950 metric tonnes of maize and 78 082 metric tonnes of traditional grains.

“Allocations to millers remain pegged at 25 000 metric tonnes per month, and the monthly social welfare grain allocation stands at 24 295 metric tonnes,” she said.

Minister Mutsvangwa added that based on the country’s forecasted monthly consumption rate of 49 295 metric tonnes, the available grain will last for 11 months.

On wheat, she said the country’s total wheat stocks stood at 211 049 metric tonnes.

Of the amount, 176 549 metric tonnes were held by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and 34 500 metric tonnes by millers.

“This will provide 8.4 months’ cover at a consumption rate of 21 000 metric tonnes per month.

“The cumulative harvested area of the 2022 winter wheat crop stands at 76 000 hectares, which is 94 percent of the planted area, with the total production standing at 358 978 metric tonnes of wheat,” she said.

Meanwhile, the minister said the cumulative grain sales of maize, wheat, soya beans and traditional grains by the GMB since April 2022 amount to about ZW$25 billion, comprising 236 725 metric tonnes.

The private sector has purchased 145 489 metric tonnes of grain. The minister was giving an update on the weekly Report on the Status National Grains, Wheat Harvesting and Deliveries, as presented by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka.