Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Senegal James Maridadi has announced plans to take white maize to Sengal. The initiative was started after revealing that most of the staple food in most of the countries he covers, which include Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde and The Gambia, is imported and hence expensive.
This prompted Ambassador Maridadi to approach the Ministry of Agriculture in Senegal with a view to introduce maize farming in the country.
“In order to enhance food security in Africa, we must produce all that we eat and eat only that which we produce. No one can be successful when they import most of their food,” he said.
Wide varieties
The Embassy (of Zimbabwe in Senegal) was allocated 5ha of land, which we put under SC719, a variety developed by Seed Co in Harare and adaptable to Senegalese climatic conditions.
“The crop did well and harvesting will commence end of October 2021 about 11 weeks after planting. Expected yield is 10 to 12 tonnes per hectare. This is the first time that a white variety (of maize) meant for human consumption has been successfully cropped in this country. The end game is to introduce sadza as a substitute to the local staple food. The idea is also to help Seed Co, a Zimbabwean company to penetrate the West African market with their varieties,” said Maridadi
