A HIGH-LEVEL meeting has been called by the Agricultural Marketing Authority and Africa Economic Development Strategies (AEDS) to discuss ways of reducing Zimbabwe's grain import bill and the promotion of local alternatives.
The bill, standing at US$2 billion annually, has been described as a national security vulnerability, with local solutions said to be necessary considering a volatile international market that has been hit hard by wars and hostile conflicts.
The strictly by-invitation meeting, which will be attended by senior government officials, captains of industry, financiers, agro-processors and farmer representative bodies, seeks to align strategy and action on the grains and oilseeds value chain localisation. It has been set for January 15 at a venue to be advised.
With Zimbabwe spending over US$2 billion a year on imported grains and oilseeds, officials argue that domestic production could meet much of the demand. The government is therefore pushing for self-sufficiency through strategic interventions, including Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025, which restricts selected imports to boost local production and stimulate agro-industrial growth.
"The meeting is convened against a backdrop of heightened global geopolitical uncertainty and repeated supply chain disruptions, which have exposed the risks of relying on food imports,” read a Press statement seen by NewsDay.
“Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing global conflicts have underscored a critical reality: food import dependence is a national security vulnerability.
"Zimbabwe currently spends over US$2 billion annually on agricultural imports, a significant proportion of which can be competitively produced locally.
"In response, the government of Zimbabwe has prioritised self-sufficiency in grains and oilseeds and the domestication of key agricultural value chains as both an economic and security imperative."
- Zim eyes homegrown grains to cut US$2bn import bill
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Already, local research has produced a wheat strain capable of replacing millions of dollars worth of imports from Europe and North Africa. Coupled with a harvest described as the best since the start of commercial wheat farming, officials are confident Zimbabweans will have enough supply in the coming season.
