Zimbabwe says it is on the brink of its biggest wheat harvest in history, thanks in large part to efforts to overcome food supply problems caused by the war in Ukraine.
Like other African countries, Zimbabwe has for decades relied on imports to offset low local production. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine resulted in global shortages and price hikes, the country wanted to ensure "self-sufficiency at all costs," said Deputy Agriculture Minister Vangelis Haritatos.
The country expects to harvest 380,000 tons of wheat, "which is 20,000 more than we require as a country," Haritatos said. That is up from about 300,000 tons produced last year.
"We are most likely to get the highest tonnage since 1962, when wheat was first introduced to Zimbabwe," Haritatos said.
While other hunger-stricken African countries are struggling with reduced wheat imports due to the war in Ukraine, Zimbabwe is looking at using its anticipated surplus of the grain to build "a small strategic reserve" for the first time in its history, Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said earlier this month.
Masuka said Zimbabwe plans to bump up wheat production to about 420,000 tons next season, giving the country room to keep building its strategic reserve and become an exporter of the grain. Wheat is Zimbabwe's most important strategic crop after corn.
African countries — which imported 44% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine between 2018 and 2020, according to U.N. figures — were hit hard by the global shortages and price hikes of grains as a result of the war. The African Development Bank has reported a 45% increase in wheat prices on the continent.
African nations were at the center of Western efforts to reopen Ukraine's ports as the United States and allies accused Russia of starving the world by denying exports from Ukraine, a key global grain exporter.
