Zimbabwe has been a net importer of food for the past four decades and the country's import bill has increasingly featured grain imports with maize imports averaging 1,1 million Metric Tonnes (MT) per year in the last 10 years, while wheat and soya beans account for 300 000MT and 150 000MT in import quantities respectively. National demand for maize stands at 2,1 million MT for industrial and domestic consumption.
Imports for these three raw grain commodities cost the country at least US$600 million in 2020 alone, thereby surpassing fuel imports (at US$499 million in the same period). This is before processed cereals and other agricultural commodities are factored into the import equation.
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