The Zimbabwean government said it plans to spend more than $275 million over the next three years to build new Grain Marketing Board (GMB) silos and renovate and modernize older silos to meet increased grain production, which is expected to reach 3 million tonnes by 2022-23.

There are proposals for the construction of four 56,400-ton silo complexes in the Mvurwi, Kwekwe, Timber Mills and Mhangura warehouses. Upgrading and automating existing facilities in Banket and Lion's Den are also being considered. In a separate proposal, four silo sites with the same capacity will be built in the Masvingo, Lupane, Raffingora and Bindura deposits.

The Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) has a storage capacity of 500,000 tons, and the government intends to increase it to 1.5 million tons. Zimbabwe, a landlocked nation of 16 million people in Southern Africa, currently has 12 silo factories with a total storage capacity of 751,000 tonnes.

Zimbabwe achieved a record wheat harvest of more than 375,000 tons in 2022. GMB can also store bagged corn and other grains under canvas, as it did in the past. In addition to corn, there are high expectations of a large harvest of traditional grains, the government said.

GMB is the country's leading grain marketing and marketing company and was established in 1931 as the Corn Control Board. Its mission is to ensure national food security through the efficient and sustainable management of the Strategic Cereal Reserve.

"As we march toward the Agricultural Vision 2030, with one abundant harvest after another, the expansion of storage in silos is a requirement," John Basera, permanent secretary of Land, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, told The Sunday Mail. "To achieve this level of storage capacity, GMB would need to partner with funders under government-to-government schemes to provide additional storage space of at least 750,000 tonnes.

Source: Agrolink