South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has welcomed Zimbabwe’s determination to elevate the ban on the grain imports.
The minister calls it a optimistic step towards regional meals safety and financial stability.
The transfer follows the gazetting of Statutory Instrument (SI) 87 of 2025 by the Zimbabwean authorities, successfully reopening the nation’s market to grain imports.
Steenhuisen described the event on grain imports as a return to “sound financial rules important for the prosperity and stability of the Southern African area.”
Exports to Zimbabwe, he stated, assist stabilise native costs in South Africa and are very important for each white and yellow maize producers.
A win for meals safety via grain imports
“That is an especially welcome improvement that underscores the collective accountability we share in guaranteeing meals sufficiency,” Minister Steenhuisen said.
“The agricultural sector thrives on predictability and effectivity, and restrictive commerce measures, whereas typically meant to guard native producers, too typically result in market distortions that in the end hurt the patron.”
He emphasised that lifting the ban would strengthen meals safety and enhance client welfare throughout the area.
Grain imports to spice up funding and regional integration
Steenhuisen stated the choice to permit the free grain imports, significantly white maize , was a optimistic step.
He defined that the transfer would enhance confidence amongst agribusinesses and exporters.In response to him, this may, in flip, encourage larger funding and manufacturing that advantages all SADC member states.
“It strengthens regional integration and ensures that surplus-producing nations can readily meet the wants of their neighbours,” Steenhuisen stated.
The Division of Agriculture reaffirmed its dedication to working with regional companions. It will assist to advertise honest, open, and environment friendly agricultural commerce.
