Drought puts maize prices under pressure

Botswana consumes 120,000 tonnes of maize meal annually, but local production only amounts to 10,000 tonnes annually.

Local millers import the balance from South Africa, whose major white maize producing areas are under increasing pressure due to low and sporadic rains this season. This week, agricultural research groups in South Africa estimated that planted hectarage in the main maize producing provinces of North West and Free State were down to an average of 65%, while the total national estimated harvest would be roughly equal to the disastrous