Namibia faces 114,360 tons of wheat shortage

BREAD, pasta, noodles, pizza, beer, and vodka all have a common main ingredient - wheat. However, Namibia is only able to produce 10,3% of this input. Wheat is the second most consumed staple food after maize in Namibia, yet accounts for the lowest in terms of production, the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) revealed. Currently, the country faces a wheat shortage of 114 363 tonnes that will be imported to meet local demand. NAB indicated that the country needs 118 824 tonnes of wheat since last year, however, farms only produce 12 251 tonnes (10,3%). As a result, from 2020 to this year, using the N$3 782,5 price per tonne, the country will roughly spend N$447,7 million on wheat imports. The country goes as far as Russia and Poland for most of its wheat imports, as a result of the country's low production. According to the NAB, Russia has accounted for 42% of the country's wheat imports since 2018, because that country's wheat is cheaper, while Poland accounted for 15% followed by ...