Zimbabwe’s wheat supplies remain critical due to logistical challenges arising from failure by the National Railway of Zimbabwe to speedily move the grain from Beira, Mozambique.
NRZ, however, said the delay in the movement of wheat was beyond the company control.
Zimbabwe is faced with inconsistent supplies of bread as flour millers have cut on production due to wheat shortages.
This has seen some unscrupulous retailers taking advantage of the situation by raising bread prices by as much as 50 percent
The GMAZ has since appealed for intervention from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development to facilitate the speedy delivery of the commodity.
“The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe, the apex representative body of grain milling industry procured 30 000 tonnes of imported wheat to ameliorate the current bread shortages. In order to immediately stabilise the bread supply, we requested and NRZ committed to bring at least 50 wagons a day into Harare,” she said.
She said the NRZ only brought 58 wagons into Harare since September 16, 2018.
This means transportation from Beira to Machipanda, which is the interchange point, is handled by other partners.
“NRZ only picks goods from Machipanda to anywhere in the country and delays from Beira are not our issue.
“This is an issue of effectiveness by the player who services the Beira to Machipanda route.
“Another factor to consider in transportation of wheat from Beira is the volatile weather there. If it is moist, it becomes difficult to load because it will get spoilt,” he said.
He, however, said the NRZ officials would visit Machipanda today to assess the situation.
The country now relies on wheat imports as current production cannot meet demand.
Zimbabwe’s wheat production experienced a sharp decline when output halved to 150 000 tonnes before further declining to about 38 000 metric tonnes during the hyperinflation period of 2008/9.