Tanznia Starts Export of Maize to Zimbabwe

Tanzania has started shipping maize to Zimbabwe. The first cargo loaded last Friday. Zimbabwe is still battling the aftermath of an El Nino-induced drought. This wilted crops and triggered food shortages in the southern African nation. Tanzania plans to export about 700,000 tonnes of the staple food to Zimbabwe.   Maize for export Source : Daily-mail.co.zm A United Nations agency has said up to 5 million Zimbabweans, one-third of the population, need food aid. Tanzania’s agriculture minister Japhet Hasunga confirmed that “The first shipment comprising 1,200 tonnes of maize has beenexported by rail to Zimbabwe. A report which has been attested to by  yesterday his Zimbabwean counterpart Perrance Shiri in Dar es Salaam. Hasunga said Tanzania was negotiating the modalities of payment for the food exports with the cash-strapped Zimbabwean government. Tanzania, which has around 3 million tonnes of surplus food after a bumper harvest, is also seeking to export grain to Kenya and other drought-hit East African countries. Zimbabwe appealed in April for 613 million U.S. dollar in aid from local and foreign donors to cover food imports and help with a humanitarian crisis after a severe drought and a cyclone battered the east of the country. “As you are aware, due to the effects of climate change, Zimbabwe got poor yields of maize last year. As a result, we had to import some grain to compliment whatever we harvested last year,” Shiri said in Dar es Salaam on Friday.