Zimbabwe runs out of fertiliser

Zimbabwe has run out of top dressing fertiliser (ammonium nitrate) as manufacturers are failing to access adequate foreign currency to import the essential raw materials.

This has left thousands of farmers, especially communal farmers who are not part of the government-run Command Agriculture Scheme, in jeopardy amid indications that yields might fall drastically due to the shortage of ammonium nitrate (AN).

The country requires about 100 000 tonnes of AN fertiliser every year. Owing to the acute foreign currency shortages blighting the domestic financial markets, fertiliser manufacturers are failing to make foreign payments due to foreign currency shortages.