The Southern African region is grappling with a mid-summer drought in 2024 that has severely affected its maize supplies, a staple food crop, in countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe, leading to significant losses and the need for large-scale imports. Zambia has seen over half of its maize harvest lost, requiring it to import a record volume of one million tonnes, while Zimbabwe's maize production has decreased by nearly 60% due to both the drought and reduced fertilizer usage, with an estimated need to import at least a million tonnes in the 2024-25 marketing year. The situation is expected to increase pressure on consumer markets and cause a surge in maize prices as the full impact of the poor harvest becomes more apparent later in the year.