Country News
Africa: The UN’s World Food Program has announced that Zimbabwe is likely to face large food security issues this year as it has lost 300,000 hectares of its corn crop (23 percent of land under cultivation) due to mid-season droughts, reports Bloomberg News. Furthermore, Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar are also facing food shortages. Botswana’s crop has been described as showing signs of “total failure.”
Further, South Africa (the continent’s largest corn producer) is currently undergoing its worst drought since 1992, which is inflicting a potential 32 percent drop in corn production and has caused yellow corn prices to jump by 12 percent. South Africa is traditionally a major supplier of corn for southern Africa, and its troubles could ripple across the region. Reuters is reporting that South Africa is likely to import GM corn from Brazil and Argentina to supplement drought-blighted domestic supplies.
Argentina: Construction workers at the grain exporting hub of Rosario blocked truck delivery access to some terminals earlier this week in an effort to disrupt grain flow, according to Reuters. The cause of the strike was the suspension of a major construction project that impacted 1,300 workers. The strike comes at a time of the year when grain exports are high during the middle of the corn harvest, but protests would have to be long in duration to have a major impact as the ports generally have large stocks on hand.