2010-04-12
LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambian 2010 wheat output rose 13.7 percent compared with the previous year to surpass domestic consumption, and the southern African country plans to export part of this surplus, a senior industry official said on Monday.

Ndambo Ndambo, the executive director of the Zambia National Farmers' Union (ZNFU) said wheat production in the 2009/2010 season rose to 216,000 tonnes from 190,000 tonnes in the 2008/2009 season thanks to favourable policies, making Zambia the only southern African nation to be self sufficient in wheat.

Zambia's annual wheat consumption is about 160,000 and farmers were currently in talks with the government over the planned export of excess wheat and wheat flour to countries within the region, he said.

Zambia's wheat production fell to as low as 30,000 tonnes a year in the 1990s, but in the last five years, annual average output has been about 130,000 tonnes.

Ndambo said production of wheat had expanded because of a well coordinated trade policy environment, plus huge private sector investment into irrigation systems.

"Given the export potential, the future looks bright except that government support will be critical in managing the transition successfully," Ndambo said.

"It will be important to ensure that a conducive trade policy environment is sustained for the private sector to continue producing."

"The private sector has provided the government with initial indicative figures for exports and we expect further discussions that should pave (the) way for the government to engage other governments in the region," Ndambo said.

Ndambo said the main constraint farmers faced was the high cost of production, which made Zambian wheat and wheat flour less competitive in other countries in the region.

"The other big problem is most countries in the region do not produce wheat, subsidised wheat imports are commonly sourced into the region and this creates unfair competition for Zambian wheat in the regional markets," he said.

Ndambo said the future of wheat farming would depend on how successfully Zambia managed the surplus production situation to move to a point where producer prices remained at a level where farmers could make a profit.