| Area: | 94 000 sq.km |
| Climate: | Tropical wet-dry climate with one rainy season (November-May) |
| Population | 12.21 million (1998 estimate); G.N.P. per caput: U.S.$ 220 (1997) |
| Specific characteristics of the country: | Low-income food-deficit country; land-locked country; importer and exporter of grain |
| Logistics: | Imports/exports through Beira (Mozambique) or Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) |
| Major foodcrops: | Maize, pulses, roots, tubers, rice |
| Marketing year: | April/March; Lean season: February-March |
| Share of cereals in total calorie intake: | 70 percent |
CURRENT SITUATION
Light rains in recent weeks have prompted early plantings of the cereal crop to be harvested from April 1999. Reflecting favourable weather, cereal production in 1998, mainly maize, increased by some 13 percent to an above-average level of 1.88 million tonnes.
As a result, the food supply situation in the current 1998/99 marketing year has improved substantially. People living in areas of localized food deficit in the north, where excessive rains resulted in flooding with loss of crops, continue to be assisted under a Government programme sustained by aid agencies.
| Wheat | Rice | Coarse grains | Total | |
| Normal Production | 2 | 35 | 1 330 | 1 367 |
| Normal Imports | 40 | 3 | 40 | 83 |
| of which: Structural food aid | - | - | 40 | 40 |
| 1998/99 Domestic Availability | 2 | 32 | 1 832 | 1 866 |
| 1998 Production (rice in paddy terms) | 2 | 50 | 1 827 | 1 879 |
| 1998 Production (rice in milled terms) | 2 | 32 | 1 827 | 1 861 |
| Possible stock drawdown | - | - | 5 | 5 |
| 1998/99 Utilization | 52 | 34 | 1 882 | 1 968 |
| Food Use | 52 | 28 | 1 712 | 1 792 |
| of which: local purchase requirement | - | - | 4 | 4 |
| Non-food use | - | 5 | 170 | 175 |
| Exports or Re-exports | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Possible stock build up | - | - | - | - |
| 1998/99 Import Requirement | 50 | 2 | 50 | 102 |
| Anticipated commercial imports | 50 | 2 | 50 | 102 |
| Food aid needs | - | - | - | - |
| Current Aid Position | ||||
| Food aid pledges | 28 | - | 22 | 50 |
| of which: Delivered | 28 | - | 15 | 43 |
| Donor-financed purchases | - | - | 4 | 4 |
| of which: for local use | - | - | 4 | 4 |
| for export | - | - | - | - |
| Estimated Per Caput Consumption (kg/Year) | 4 | 2 | 140 | 147 |
| Indexes | ||||
| 1998 production as % of normal: | 137 | |||
| 1998/99 import requirement as % of normal: | 123 | |||
| 1998/99 food aid requirement as % of normal: | - |
