Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South)-A Renamo insurgency in neighbouring Mozambique is providing challenges to maize importers in drought-stricken Zimbabwe as premiums for the insurance of travelling cargos has gone up.
With a maize deficit of over 5 million tonnes Zimbabwe has been importing a lot of maize from outside the continent with countries from Eastern Europe providing large sums after the whole SADC region suffered an El Nino drought.
So far Ukraine has sold over 140 000 tonnes of maize whilst Mexico has provided 304 000 metric tonnes.
The civil unrest in Mozambique which has the ports where ships bringing the maize dock has created challenges as the haulage trucks which carry maize from there are under constant threats from the Renamo troops.
So far the Zimbabwe-Beira road has however not come under Renamo attack.
“We don’t have much information on the Renamo insurgency in the Beira route but premium of insurance on the transportation is increasing adding to the challenges that we have”, Tafadzwa Musarara, the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe president said.
“We have a problems with the National Railways of Zimbabwe on the issue of quick movement of grain from the border. The NRZ isn’t functional as we would want it to be as we would want to avoid using roads.”
“25 000 metric tonnes of maize can damage the roads when shared among the number of trucks needed to ferry it into the country”, he said.
Zimbabwe is currently importing yellow and white maize, with the latter meant for livestock since it has high content of vitamin A.
Mexico has so far provided 60 000 tonnes of yellow maize according to Musarara.
Renamo, which at first was mainly targeting police units and state facilities is now attacking foreigners and foreign vehicles that use Mozambican routes.
Last month suspected Renamo militias set ablaze six vehicles including a tanker that was transporting fuel from the port of Beira to Malawi’s commercial city of Blantyre.
Landlocked Malawi is currently considering abandoning the use of the road to Beira, following the ambushes in Barue district, Manica province.
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