Zambia plans to import maize from South America as drought is expected to cut the 2015/2016 maize crop by a third, local media reported on Wednesday.
Zambia planning to import maize from South America: media
The southern African nation harvested 2.6 million tonnes of the staple in the 2014/2015 season and drought could slash this year's output by 30 percent.
A member of a Venezuelan state-backed farming cooperative harvests corn in a file photo. REUTERS/Howard Yanes
Recommended articles
"The government is looking for possibilities of importing maize from South America as the entire region does not have enough maize stocks," President Edgar Lungu is quoted as saying in the Zambia Daily Mail.
Zambia's maize stocks would only last until June, Lungu told the newspaper. Lungu's spokesman Amos Chanda was not immediately available to comment.
Millions of people in southern Africa face hunger because of a drought that has been exacerbated by an El Nino weather pattern.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
Recommended articles
Parents put 3-month-old baby up for adoption so they can focus on work
Tinubu assures of more policies for nation’s industrialisation
Pelumi Nubi’s London-to-Lagos journey and West Africa’s border realities
Kano govt clears the air on alleged stray bullet incident involving journalist
Kebbi Gov won't hesitate to sign death warrant of convicted bandits' informants
Blackout hits Tanzania as Cyclone Hidaya makes landfall, Kenya braces itself
Popular footballer arrested over robbery that left 1 dead as police dismantle gang
When fire started on a boat, the captain was first to escape — 34 passengers died
Some Nigerians in public, private organisations using fake certificates - FG
ADVERTISEMENT
![33 passengers and one crew member died on the dive boat, Conception [Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/AP]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "33 passengers and one crew member died on the dive boat, Conception [Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/AP]")