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Namibia to import 150, 000 tons of maize

Xinhua, July 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Namibian Agronomic Board said Monday the country will have to import about 150, 000 tons of white maize from South Africa.

Antoinette Venter, the Namibian Agronomic Board Manager, said that this season Namibia could only harvest 45, 000 tons of maize.

The country consumes about 200, 000 tons of maize per year, according to the official.

Of the 45,000, about 18, 000, she said, will be sent to government silos, while the rest will be distributed among millers across the country.

The drought that has besieged the country for three years now has seen the maize yields dwindling, leaving more than 700, 000 rural Namibians in need of food.

President Hage Geingob has declared a state of emergency and appealed to the international community to help.

Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has said Namibia needs about 600 million Namibian dollars (about 42 million U.S dollars) to secure enough food until the net financial year.

Geingob has also launched a food bank program to cater for the urban poor during this time.

The food bank program now provides food to about 30, 000 residents in the capital Windhoek and will be rolled out to other smaller towns in due course. Endit