 Photo credit: Public domain image uploaded by FrancisTyers
In dollar value, the world price of maize has shot up by 186 percent in the last two years: from 89 USD per metric tonne (mt) in May 2005 to 254 USD per mt in August this year, according to FEWS-NET. Until March 2008, 4.1 million food-insecure people in Zimbabwe are expected to face food shortages. Prices are at an all time high in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, where they rose by 23 percent on average, from US$1.24 per kg in July to US$1.52 per kg in August, according to FEWS-NET, which used the official revised exchange rate for the Zimbabwean dollar of 15,000 ZWD to 1 USD. However, prices in Bulawayo, the second city, are double those in Harare, indicating the severity of the shortages in the south of the country. Food prices are likely to rise further and remain high, as current food supplies, including domestic production and imports, are insufficient to meet domestic demand [1]. |
