Zambia drought could slash 2018 maize output by around 50%.

Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) said a lot of the maize crop in key production areas had wilted and this was likely to hit the harvest. If this trend continues into February, we are in trouble. We may be lucky to hit 1.8-2 million tonnes of maize. The maize production rose to 3.61 million tonnes in the 2016/2017 season from 2.87 million tonnes the previous season. Zambia’s maize production season runs from October-November when the planting is done to March-April when the crop is ready for harvesting. But this season a dry spell has hit small-scale farmers who rely on rain-fed irrigation and produce 82 percent of Zambia’s maize