By Patience Gondo
The lifting of Zimbabwe’s maize import ban has brought relief to farmers, traders and consumers across southern Africa, with expectations of improved food supplies, lower prices and renewed regional trade.
The decision, announced through Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025, ends restrictions that limited importation of maize and other grains into Zimbabwe.
The move comes after erratic rainfall and prolonged dry spells during the 2024 and 2025 farming season, which reduced national yields and pushed up the price of maize meal in several provinces.
Zimbabwe had initially imposed import restrictions in 2023 and 2024 to protect local farmers after a bumper harvest.
However, poor weather conditions later disrupted production, forcing the government to reverse its position to ensure food availability.
For regional producers in South Africa, Zambia and Malawi, the reopening of Zimbabwe’s market restores one of southern Africa’s biggest maize destinations.
In a statement on Wednesday, dated October 22 2025, South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, welcomed the development, describing it as a return to sound economic principles essential for the prosperity and stability of the Southern African region.
“This is an extremely welcome development that underscores the collective responsibility we share in ensuring food sufficiency,” Steenhuisen said.
“The agricultural sector thrives on predictability , efficiency and restrictive trade measures while sometimes intended to protect local producers, too often lead to market distortions that ultimately harm the consumer.”
He said the formal removal of the ban was crucial for food security and consumer welfare across the region.
“By allowing the free flow of maize, particularly white maize that our people on the continent consume as a staple food, we are sending a clear signal of confidence to our agribusinesses and exporters,” he said.
The minister said the policy shift would encourage investment and expanded production within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), strengthening regional integration and ensuring that surplus-producing nations can readily meet the needs of their neighbours.
The South African Department of Agriculture said it is committed to work with regional partners to promote fair, open and efficient trade in agricultural products which it said remains the cornerstone of sustainable growth and poverty alleviation in southern Africa.