by Chris Mfula
Zambia plans to export 500,000 tonnes of maize in 2011 to countries in the Southern African Development Community, the state-run Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has said.
"The prospects on the market are looking bright, and it is projected that the agency may sell up to 500,000 tonnes of maize by the end of this year," FRA spokeswoman Mwamba Siame said.
Siame said in a statement the agency had so far exported 163,000 tonnes of maize to neighbouring countries.
She said 73 percent of the exports went to Zimbabwe, 25 percent to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 1 percent each to Namibia and Mozambique.
Siame said the agency had already agreed on contracts for the export of more than 320,000 tonnes of maize, which had not yet been paid for.
The government has allowed farmers and traders to export a maize surplus of 1.1 million tonnes, mainly to other countries in southern Africa, after Zambia produced 2.7 million tonnes.
Reuters
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