Zimbabwe is likely to face severe food shortage within four months if the government does not start importing more grain.
According to a Ministry of Finance quarterly report released, if the country does not start importing grain, the storage will be depleted before the next harvest risking severe food shortage in the country.
“The stocks are adequate for human consumption for the next 7 month. However, in view of the current drought, importation is inevitable before the next harvest”. Read part of the January to March quarterly report.
According to the report grain stocks at GMB stood at 876 000 tons as at the end of March 2018, comprised of 776 000 tons of maize and 100 000 tons of small grains.
Grain shortage according to treasury is due to the failure of the 2018-2019 agricultural season which resulted in a poor harvest.
World Food Program (WFP) has already hinted that more than 5.2 million people are in need of food assistance and a third of them are urban dwellers
According to WFP more than 1.5 million urban dwellers in Zimbabwe are already facing severe food shortages and if the government does not facilitate importation of grain and the number of food vulnerabilities is likely to increase.