What do we do with the excess Maize as the DRC continues to buy crop from RSA ?
On the 27th of November 2025, I took a motion to parliament asking government to put modalities in place to increase the yield per hectare for each farmer supported under FISP.
An average yield of 2 tonnes of maize per hectare is not enough. I shall get back to that later.
I am writing because the Republic of South Africa(RSA) has taken away part of our Market Share in terms of quantity of Maize sold to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Most Maize from RSA is genetically modified (GMO), produced at a cheaper cost and in larger quantities. During our drought, RSA supplied DRC.
Their yield per hectare is actually above 4.5 tonnes compared to Zambia’s average of 2 tonnes.
For many years, Zambia has had the lions share (bigger market share into DRC) for maize but that changed with competition from South Africa.
The Food Reserve Agency(FRA) will only budget for 0.5 million tonnes of the 4.9 million tonnes (10%) of maize to be produced this year.
Even when we include the demand coming from milling companies, Zambia will still have close to 1.8 million in excess Maize remaining for export.
Who do we export the extra crop to ?
Which other countries do we sign agri-trade agreements with ?
The target to produce 10 million tonnes of maize in the years to come requires;
1. Adequate water through affordable irrigation systems
2. Seed estimated at 125,000 tonnes for a year
3. Correct quantity and quality of fertilizer
But what will even be more important and relevant to my write up is identifying where the excess maize will go.
Will FRA be given the task of selling (exporting) on behalf of small scale farmers or each producer must develop their own export market strategy ?
#ideasfordevelopment
Christopher Kang’ombe
The Author is a former parliamentarian in Zambia. He studied Electrical/ Mechanical Engineering from CBU and also holds a Master of Arts in Economic Policy Management from UNZA.
Good Article Christopher, these are the topics that we should have on social media not lyonse fyama politics. Simple answer to your question: Let us use the biblical Egyptian Formula of Joseph: Let the Government (FRA) mop up and buy ALL the Grain and SAFELY store it. We will need it in future. There is anticipated Super Elnino coming next rainy season, we will need the maize next year!