The country’s macroeconomic environment remains volatile and is likely to remain so during the outlook period despite some relative stability at the end of 2022, a Famine Early Warning Systems Network report has revealed.
According to the FEWSNet, the start of the 2023 harvests is expected to improve food access across Zimbabwe.
“Households are relying on seasonal agricultural casual labour for income in many areas, especially in the north, but opportunities are expected to remain below normal due to liquidity challenges,” FEWSNet said.
It further stated that to earn income, some households in rural and urban areas are increasing their reliance on petty trade, but incomes will likely trend below normal due to high competition and below-normal demand.
“Livestock sales are also likely to be impacted by below-normal demand despite improvements in livestock conditions. Additionally, domestic and foreign remittances are expected to remain below normal due to liquidity challenges and the residence and work permit difficulties faced by some Zimbabweans in South Africa,” the report said.
This comes as the government says the country is now food secure after achieving bumper maize and wheat harvests in the last few cropping seasons.
“Yes, we are food secure because, in the recent past, I have seen applications for permits to import seed, that is maize seed and traditional grains,” ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Dr John Basera said.
“We started to operationalize the Agriculture Recovery Growth Plan and we managed to score 2,7 million tonnes of maize during the 2020-2021 cropping season. So, generally, we are food secure, and l know SeedCo contributed almost 90 per cent and this was a big score.
“We recorded 375 000 tonnes of wheat (last season) and for the first time since 1966, we are flour self-sufficient and that’s incredible,” he said.
The Government has initiated public-private sector engagements to ensure its projections of a harvest of about 3 million tonnes of maize from the present season, are realized
However, the local currency (ZWL) has continued to depreciate against the USD in formal and informal markets, where goods and services are increasingly priced in USD or ZAR.
Additionally, the prices of goods and services continue to increase, even in USD, a trend that is likely to persist.
A January 2023 ZIMSTAT survey report indicated that almost 80 per cent of transactions for food purchases are in USD, with the rest in ZWL.
Despite progressive declines in monthly and annual inflation over the last few months, the cost of living remains very high. Poor households continue to struggle to meet their food and non-food needs.
According to the World Bank, Zimbabwe’s January 2023 real annual food inflation rate in ZWL was 121 per cent, the highest in the world.
