El Niño triggers 3 million tonne corn deficit in Southern Africa

By Matthew Hill

Southern African nations battling the fallout of a record El Niño-induced drought this year will need to import at least an additional 3 million tonnes of corn in the coming months, driving up food costs, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network said.

Farmers from Angola to Zambia and Mozambique suffered the worst dry spell in more than a century during the middle of the growing season earlier this year. That wiped out vast swathes of the main crop of corn, or maize as it’s known locally.

More than 30 million people impacted by the El Niño-induced drought will need humanitarian help through March, Fews Net said in a report late Tuesday.

Peak regional food-aid requirements will be about 25 per cent higher than the previous severe drought caused by the weather phenomenon in 2016-17, the US Agency for International Development-funded organization said.

“While several countries are in the process of securing contracts to import maize from international markets, particularly in South America, constrained regional market supply is driving inflated maize prices,” it said.

“In Malawi and Zimbabwe, for example, maize grain prices are already around 130 per cent to 150 per cent above average for this time of year.”

The United Nations’ World Food Programme is seeking 290,000 tons of corn from as far afield as Mexico and Ukraine as it mounts its biggest-yet drought response in Southern Africa, the organisation said earlier this month.