JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) — Drought-stricken South Africa should be able to import enough white corn to meet the needs of consumers who regard the yellow variety as fit only for livestock, says agriculture minister Senzeni Zokwana.
In South Africa, white corn is made into what is known locally as pap, which is the main source of calories for many households.
However, a critical shortage looms after the country experienced its driest year on record in 2015.
“Everything is on track so people will not be exposed to yellow maize,” Zokwana said.
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“There will be white maize available for human consumption and yellow maize for animal feed.”
He said the aim was to “stagger imports at the ports to prevent congestion” to ensure that enough white corn made its way to millers for production into pap.
He said the ministry had been in talks with two of the country’s biggest food companies, Tiger Brands and Pioneer Food, about the issue and was confident that “we will have enough white maize.”
Yellow corn is cheaper and more widely grown. White corn is cultivated in southern Africa, but neighbouring countries have little to spare this year. Zambia recently suspended the export of the grain to ease local shortages.
Mexico and the United States are South Africa’s main sources for white corn, which has roughly doubled in price the past year, fueling food price increases and inflation.
Grain SA estimates that South Africa will need to import more than a million tonnes of white corn in the next marketing year that begins May 1.
National white corn consumption is 4.4 million tonnes a year.
South Africans have a cultural aversion to eating yellow corn, which they consider to be cattle fodder. This gives the ruling African National Congress a political incentive to ensure that pap is made from the white variety.
“The government has committed to 1 billion rand ($67 million) for drought relief for all of the farmers” and is monitoring the situation closely, Zokwana said.
The drought, triggered by a powerful El Nino, has parched grazing lands, and Zokwana said more than 186,000 cattle and sheep, which is two percent of the national herd, have died as a result.
However, the death toll is likely to climb because not all provinces have reported their numbers yet, he added.
“Our intervention prevented what could have been a catastrophe,” he said, especially in areas where small-scale farmers graze cattle on communal land.
“We have been building feedlots in rural areas that people can put all their oxen and bulls in that are not meant for breeding, so they are able to sell them and keep the money. When the drought is over, you can buy again.”
