By Own Correspondent- Industry and Commerce minister Mangaliso Ndlovu has said Zimbabwe is losing $100 million annually to wheat imports.

Ndlovu attributed this to failure by farmers to produce enough stocks for the country.

Officiating at an exhibition gala organised by the Grain Millers’ Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) in Bulawayo recently, Ndlovu commended millers for venturing into contract wheat farming.

He said:

“The country is spending close to $100 million in wheat imports annually to cater for this deficit.

A study in 2003 on the bad price indicated that there was a huge deficit in terms of wheat production compared to the nation’s annual consumption, where seven months’ wheat supply was to be met through imports, 16 years down the line we are still faced with the same challenges, if not worse.

Command agriculture has shown that as a country we have the capacity to solve our pertinent problems.

Since 2000, Zimbabwe has failed to produce 400 000 metric tonnes of wheat it needs per year. Authorities cite sanctions imposed by the West on its top brass at the turn of the millennium on allegations of misrule and human rights abuse.