Zimbabwe Key Message Update May - September 2026: Food access improves with harvests, but grain prices remain high in deficit areas

Country: Zimbabwe Source: Famine Early Warning System Network Please refer to the attached file. Key Messages Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes are expected through September 2026 in deficit-producing areas as the April to June main crop harvest progresses. Households in these areas are accessing food through their own-produced crop harvest, despite localized impacts to production from excessive rainfall and prolonged dry spells during the November 2025 to March 2026 rainy season. However, households still have limited cash incomes – in part due to below-average access to casual labor, livestock sales, wild produce such as Mopane worms, remittances and other sources – preventing them from meeting essential non-food needs. Minimal (IPC Phase 1) outcomes are ongoing and expected through September in typical surplus-producing areas in the Mashonaland Provinces and other parts of the country. Households can meet their food and non-food needs, despite localized impacts to production from excessive rainfall and dry spells. Households will have access to own-produced stocks and sufficient income from food and cash crop sales, casual labor, self-employment, and other typical sources. Increased availability of staple cereals at household and market levels is resulting in seasonal price declines in surplus-producing areas. Maize grain prices are between 0.23-0.29 USD/kilogram (kg) (or 4-5 USD/17.5 kg bucket), about 40-50 percent lower than prices during the January to March 2026 peak lean season. However, household and open market staple cereal stocks are limited in some deficit-producing southern and eastern areas where crop production was low. The movement of staple cereal from surplus- to deficit-producing areas is still low across most areas, as most farmers with surp...

Original source: Relief Web