WANDILE SIHLOBO: Ukraine war adds to food scarcity fears for Sub-Saharan Africa

Countries that are likely to be maize importers will be at the mercy of global grain prices

The year started with a mixed outlook of agricultural fortunes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Much of the Southern Africa region had received favourable rains, albeit not at the same period, which is good for agricultural production. Still, some areas of southwestern Angola, northwestern Namibia, northern and central Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar are dry reportedly, with fears of lower yields in 2022 compared with last year.

Meanwhile, the East Africa region has experienced dryness, which negatively affected agricultural production, and the conflict in parts of Ethiopia resulted in farmers leaving some agricultural regions in fear of the war. There are reports that more than 500,000ha of uncultured land in parts of Ethiopia have reduced production of crops such as sesame...

Source: BusinessLIVE