Tanzania to Feed Zambia: 650,000 Tonnes of Maize Deal Sealed

30/6/2024 17:17

        Tanzania will sell 650,000 tonnes of maize to Zambia, a senior government official said on Sunday, in a deal intended to help the southern African country reduce food shortages caused by a prolonged drought.
        
        Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe said the two countries had signed an agreement on supplying the grain, expected to feed about 7 million people in Zambia.
        
        Zambia is in the grip of a drought that has reduced food production and lowered power generation, pushing the government to import food from neighbouring countries.
        
        "The agreement will be implemented within a period of eight months and will help Tanzania earn $250 million," Bashe said in a post on the social media platform X.
        
        The agreement was signed by Andrew Komba, the director general of Tanzania's state-owned National Food Reserve Agency, and Zambia's national disaster coordinator, Gabriel Pollen.
        
        The maize consignment, Bashe said, will be supplied from four NFRA warehouses in the southwest of the country.