A severe maize-meal shortage has hit Zimbabwe resulting in the country's staple food becoming scarce and very expensive mainly due to the country's waning maize production.

Currently, mealie-meal is not available in shops and supermarkets but available on the parallel (black) market at a cost of $17 million for a 10kg roller meal bag.

In a snap survey in and around the city of Harare, the 'traditional' Red Seal and Ngwerewere brands are no longer found. To a larger extent, refined mealie-meal is scarce as compared to roller meal.

Sarah Mtekiwa says mealie-meal has gone way beyond her reach as she needs about 30kgs a month to feed her family.

"Surely, I am struggling to bring sadza to the table- of all the things. I cannot believe this is happening."

"However, I am comforted by the fact that I am not the only one affected. Many colleagues and neighbours of mine cite it pains them to buy the expensive basic commodity, which is only available at the black market," she said.

The country requires about two million tonnes of maize per year, but the nation has been producing around a quarter of that figure.

In Zimbabwe, mealie-meal is used to prepare sadza and porridge. A 50kg bag of mealie-meal is also now fetching for more than $60 million.

Millers across the country cite they have not received any maize for some time now resulting in some of them scaling down or even suspending operations.

Early January this year, the GMB depot in Bulawayo was reported to have started distributing maize to millers in an effort to solve the maize meal shortage.

"The price madness, in which prices of each and every commodity goes up within a week is making most of us suffer."

"If shops had mealie-meal in stock, the price would certainly not have reached $17 million for a 10kg bag," added Mtekiwa.

Despite the 2006/7 drought, the government is expecting a real growth of 1.4 percent for the agricultural sector in 2007. The state also expects the sector to grow to expand by 12.4 percent in 2008 on the back of 'good rains' and enhanced 'mechanisation' of the sector.

President Mugabe's government through the agricultural ministry has since dubbed this year as the "Mother of all seasons", owing to the heavy rains received in the greater part of last year and also in the beginning of this year.

However, independent analysts cite there won't be a bumper harvest as the rains were too much in which they destroyed some crops, caused leaching through floods against the background of farmers lacking sufficient inputs and proper planning, among other things.

Traders indicate they source the maize from plots and farms near the capital at figures around $10 million for a 10kg bag.

A black market trader revealed he gets mealie-meal from a relative working for GMB.

"My uncle brings the mealie-meal, of which I sell most of it and we share the profit."

"Things have become so expensive so most of the traders (including me) peg prices according to the cost of other basic commodities around us," he said.

Recently, the GMB boss, Retired Colonel Samuel Muvuti was arrested and is accused of siphoning more than Z$7 billion from the grain utility and for abusing more than 124,000 litres of GMB fuel.

"I am also not employed and am surviving on parallel market trading, so I have to make the best out of my current 'job' so as to feed and support my family," said the trader.

Zimbabwe's agricultural production began to dwindle in 2000 following the controversial land reform programme which resulted in more than 4000 white commercial farmers being displaced especially by Mugabe's war veterans and the ruling party- Zanu PF senior officials.

Violence and squabbles, lack of farming knowledge by the new farmers, and lack of inputs has had a great impact on the country's food production especially in maize and wheat.

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