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Zambia to export maize to drought-hit Kenya

Published: 23 Oct 2009 01:25:27 PST

* Exports to help curb Kenya drought impact

* Zambia's FRA to decide on pricing

LUSAKA, Oct 23 - Zambia plans to export 100,000 tonnes of maize to Kenya to help the east African country curb the impact of a severe drought that has left millions of people in need of food aid, the Zambian Daily Mail reported on Friday.

"The government has requested the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to work out the measures to facilitate the export of the 100,000 tonnes of maize to Kenya," the paper quoted Agriculture minister Brian Chituwo as saying.

Kenya has been hard hit by a severe drought that has affected large parts of east Africa for five years running, with aid agencies saying up to 23 million people in the region are being driven towards severe hunger and destitution.

International aid group Oxfam said last month around 3.8 million Kenyans, a 10th of the population, need emergency aid, partly because food prices have risen to 180 percent above average.

Kenya's government liberalised maize imports and sales in February to try to ease prices and make the grain more accessible.

The country has imported 509,183 tonnes of both white and yellow maize from South Africa -- the continent's biggest maize producer -- since May.

Chituwo said Zambia's FRA was working on a pricing system for the planned exports, which would take into account the cost of transporting the maize to east Africa's biggest economy.

"I have asked the FRA to work out the price mechanism. There are many issues to take into consideration including the modalities to ship the commodity," he said.

Zambia harvested 1.9 million tonnes of maize this year and the government said in July the southern African country would export an initial 100,000 tonnes of maize after reaping a surplus of 203,271 tonnes.

The country has managed to turn its maize production around over the past three farming seasons, becoming a net exporter of maize on the back of good rains and a government policy to provide subsidised fertiliser and seed to small-scale farmers.