Browse Data and Analysis

Zimbabwe’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to drop by almost 60 percent in marketing year 2024/25 due to extreme drought conditions associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon.

FAS Dar es Salaam anticipates corn production will decline 6 percent in marketing year (MY) 2024/25 as farmers switch to alternative crops due to low corn prices. MY 2024/25 wheat imports are anticipated to reach 1.3 million metric tons (MT) as rising incomes and growth in the tourism and hospitality sectors increase demand for wheat products.

Zimbabwe’s corn crop for marketing year 2023/24 is estimated at 1.5 million metric tons. This represents an increase of five percent from the previous marketing year’s crop, mainly due to a normal rainfall season in the northern parts of the country.

MY 2023/24 corn production is anticipated to increase roughly 3 percent to 6.1 million metric tons (MT) as more farmers switch to corn production in response to high prices. Post anticipates production will remain below historical levels due to high fertilizer prices and fall army worm outbreaks.

Zimbabwe’s corn crop for marketing year (MY) 2022/23 is estimated at 1.6 million metric tons (MMT), representing a drop of 43 percent from the bumper crop of 2.7 MMT produced in MY 2021/22. Many factors contributed to the drop in production including sub-optimal weather conditions, high input costs and macro-economic challenges.

MY2022/23 corn production is forecast to decrease by approximately 16 percent to 5.9 million metric tons (MMT) due to drought conditions, fall armyworm infestations, and high fertilizer prices.

Zimbabwe’s corn crop for the 2021/22 marketing year (MY) is estimated at 2.7 million tons, an increase of almost 200 percent from the 907,628 tons of corn produced in the 2020/21 MY.

MY 2021/22 wheat production is expected to decrease by 22.2 percent to 70,000 MT, while consumption is projected to increase by 2.9 percent to 1.2 million MT.

Zimbabwe’s corn crop for the 2020/21 MY is estimated at 907,628 tons, 17 percent higher thanthe 2019/20 MY’s corn crop of 776,635 tons.

In Marketing Year (MY) 2020/21, corn production fell due to post-harvest loss, ineffective extension services, unreliable markets, pests, and diseases.

Tanzania Government allows the importation of Genetic Engineered (GE) products from United States and other countries that meets national standards.

FAS/Dar es Salaam forecasts marketing year (MY) 2019/2020 corn production to increase by 1.8 percent from 2018/2019 due to a promising fertilizer delivery system.