Maize is the staple food of the people of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It contributes, on average, 40% of the calories consumed in peoples' diets. Drought and low soil fertility are two major constraints to maize production in the region. The SADC region has been experiencing a series of droughts over the past five years, with the 1991/92 drought being the worst of the century. Food production was drastically reduced, leading to governments seeking food aid from the international community. The region's cereal harvest for 1994/95 was only 15.7 million tons, whereas direct consumption needs were 23.3 million tons. Of the 7.2 million ton deficit, 4.9 million tons were maize. Declining soil fertility, particularly nitrogen, is probably second in importance to drought as far as low maize yields are concerned in SADC countries. This is reflected in the wide gaps between researchers' and smallholder farmers' maize yields. In most countries farmers' yields average less than 1 t/ha, whereas researchers often obtain 10 t/ha or more. The potential of improved germplasm cannot be achieved by smallholder farmers mainly due to low and declining soil fertility.

English

9801|AGRIS 9702|anterior|R97-98PROCE|FINAL9798

Jose Juan Caballero

CIMMYT Publications Collection