South Africa: Maize Farmers Lobby to Supply Biofuel Industry

South African maize farmers are pushing hard to change a government decision to exclude their crops as feedstock for bioethanol, in view of food security concerns.

Shortly after the government unveiled its biofuel strategy last December after months of dilly-dallying, Minister for Agriculture, Lulu Xingwana, opened a small window of hope for the maize and maize sorghum lobby by promising to change the Cabinet decision if they could prove that surplus stocks could be produced.
Maize is a staple in southern Africa. But with prices plunging, South African commercial farmers have left an estimated 1 million hectares of available land idle. Production has remained around 8.6 million tonnes annually – a figure that meets the demand of consumers while still ensuring a profit for farmers.

In an uncertain market, the balance can easily be disturbed, leading to huge losses, farm experts say. “Maize farmers are business people. And like any other business people, they want to see a good return. Few are willing to pour in extra cash to produce crops without an assurance they will be rewarded for their efforts,” says Wessel Lemmer, a senior economist at Grain South Africa.

Yet Lemmer and other industry players are convinced that were all available land to be cultivated, the yield would go up by at least 3 million tonnes — enough to satisfy the biofuels market without any negative impact on food security.

AllAfrica