A 20-member Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) delegation is in Sao Paulo, Brazil to negotiate delivery of approximately 400,000 metric tonnes of yellow and white maize, NewZimbabwe.com can reveal.

Hard hit by an El Nino-induced drought, Zimbabwe recorded its worst harvest in four decades, consequentially putting millions at risk of hunger.

According to GMAZ Chairperson Tafadzwa Musarara, the supply is expected to augment local produce and imports from South Africa, which is in a relatively better situation as compared to Zimbabwe.

Expectations are that delivery of the maize will start in July if the discussions are fruitful.

"This maize will complement our current supplies from local farmers and ongoing imports from South Africa," said Musarara.

"We are aiming to procure and secure a circa 400,000 metric tonnes supply arrangement covering September 2024 to August 2025.

"We are here to negotiate and conclude supplies to arrive in Zimbabwe starting at the end of July 2024."

Brazil's harvest is expected to improve by 10% to 125 million tonnes this year.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, was the third country in Africa to declare this year's drought a national disaster, following Malawi and Zambia.

Sporadic rainfall and scorching heat meant most subsistence farmers suffered losses that left them without enough to feed themselves for the preceding year.

In declaring it a disaster, President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed a grain deficit of 680,000 metric tonnes and highlighted that over 2.7 million people will need food aid.

The United Nations (UN) report stated that millions more were at risk of hunger and will need assistance, with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) appealing for as much as US$85 million to fund its response programmes following the El Nino.