Botswana orders 1,000t of yellow maize from SA

Mbongeni Mguni | Wednesday September 23, 2015 17:03

Yellow maize in Botswana is primarily used in the animal feed industry.

BAMB spokesperson, Kushata Modiakgotla said at present, the country’s strategic grain reserves had 30,000 tonnes of sorghum and 3,000 tonnes of cowpeas left, but no maize.

“BAMB has started the process of buying 5,000 tonnes of white maize from Zambia and it is exploring other avenues to import an additional 5,000 tonnes, if it becomes necessary,” she stated in an emailed response to enquiries.

“Zambia is able to supply us with the 5,000 tonnes of white maize (and) we have also ordered 1,000 tonnes of yellow maize from South Africa,” she said.

Modiakgotla added that reserves of the national staple, sorghum, were safe with 63,000 tonnes “all in all” which were enough to last until next year’s harvest period. She said the Board would be “guided by national demand” going forward, should it require further imports of maize.

She was, however, quick to point out that consumers would not suffer from a shortage of maize meal, as the major millers “always import 90 percent of their ingredients”.

Last month, the Botswana Millers Association moved to ease concerns about maize meal shortages, saying millers had secured their full requirements for the season.

Association chairperson, Nkosi Mwaba told Mmegi that they were experiencing supply constraints of the maize side due to the drought situation both in SA and Botswana.

“As millers however, we have secured futures of our full milling requirement for this season.  Suffice to say, we have sufficient supply and we are not concerned about shortages,” he said.

Mwaba said the regional supply constraints were however expected to have an impact on pricing and it was likely that the consumer would feel the impact of the increased price on finished products.

By August, the Association was estimating that SA maize prices were 15 percent higher than local prices. The same premium was expected to apply in the local market, causing a price hike in maize meal.

According to the Botswana Millers Association, local farmers, through BAMB, only supply up to about five percent of the milling consumption per annum on white maize.

“Due to the drought, local white maize supplies have dried up and BAMB is considering imports from Zambia. If these imports by BAMB are not at the expense of local farmers, then it is expected that the marketing board will consider imports,” Mwaba said.