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Johannesburg - Drought-stricken South Africa should be able to import enough white maize to meet the needs of consumers who regard the yellow variety as only fit for livestock, Agriculture Minister Senzeni Zokwana said on Tuesday.
In South Africa, white maize is made into what is known locally as "pap", the main source of calories for many households, but 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 ... There will be white maize available for human consumption and yellow maize for animal feed," Zokwana told Reuters in a telephone interview.
He said the aim was to "stagger imports at the ports to prevent congestion" to ensure enough white maize 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 maize is cheaper and more widely grown. White maize is cultivated in southern Africa but neighbouring countries have little to spare this year and Zambia on Tuesday suspended the export of the grain to ease local shortages.
Mexico and the United States are the main sources that South Africa has for white maize, which has roughly doubled in price the past year, fueling food price increases and inflation.
Grain SA, a producer group, estimates South Africa will need to import over a million tonnes of white maize in the next marketing year that begins on May 1. National white maize consumption is about 4.4 million tonnes a year.
South Africans have a cultural aversion to eating yellow maize, which they consider to be cattle fodder. So, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has a political incentive to ensure their pap is made from the white variety.
"The government has committed to R1bn for drought relief for all of the farmers" and is monitoring the situation closely, Zokwana said.
The drought, triggered by a powerful El Nino and other weather patterns, has parched grazing lands and Zokwana said over 186 000 cattle and sheep had perished to date as a result - about two percent of the national herd.
That number would likely climb as not all provinces have reported their numbers yet, Zokwana said.
"Our intervention prevented what could have been a catastrophe," he said, especially in areas where small-scale farmers graze cattle on communal lands.
"We have been building feed lots 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," Zokwana said.
