Poor Rainfalls Raise Namibia’s Need to Import Maize By 43%

By:Hertha Ekandjo
First Capital Namibia CEO and economist Martin Mwinga says that Namibia has been experiencing a shortage in the production of maize and wheat.
This comes as the quantity of imported maize increased by 43% from December 2022 to January 2023. It then fell by 32% % in February 2023.
“Namibia historically has been a net importer of maize. We only produce 50% of our local maize. For wheat, it’s even less than 10 %, so we import a bulk of our wheat and maize outside,” said the CEO.
Mwinga added that what contributed to the low production in the two grains this year is drought, especially the timing of the rainfall.
According to First Capital’s Food Price Monitor analysis, the increase of imports between December 2022 and January 2023 was necessitated by a major decline in local output of 87% during the same period due to below-normal rainfall received in most parts of the country.
“The farmers could not plant on time, so that worsened the situation, leaving us with no choice but to increase our import on the two grains,” he said.
According to Mwinga, the depreciation of the currency also increased the input bill, making imports more expensive.
Namibia’s out for maize for the year, during the 2022/23 agricultural season, is projected to be below 2021/22 levels by 10.7% due to poor rainfall received in most parts of the country.
“On the contrary, the output of maize in China, Brazil and Zimbabwe is expected to increase by 0.5, 42.5, and 6 percent respectively,” the report states.
Analysis, however, also shows that, at the same time, the volume of imported wheat to Namibia fell by 69% and 30% in January and February 2023 (month-on-month). In the same way, the local output of wheat fell by 86% in January 2023 from 3,475 tons recorded in December 2022 to 501 tons in January 2023.
Moreover, Mwinga noted that the maize seen being sold on the streets in the city is maize produced by small crop farmers and never goes for production but is consumed at any stage.
He stated that for one to capture a full production they need to have a full harvest, “what you are seeing in the streets is just from small farmers that need to survive because there are no jobs, so they need to sell whatever they are producing on a small scale”.
Namibia is heavily dependent on foreign markets for its domestic requirements of wheat and white maize.
This, the analysts say, exposes the price of these products to external shocks such as demand and supply fundamentals in larger markets.
On the positive, however, prices for Top Score (5 kg) and Top Score (10 kg) were 8% and 6% below those recorded during the fourth quarter of 2022.