Zimbabwe raises maize prices

Zimbabwe has sharply raised the producer price of the staple maize to encourage farmers to boost ouput and deliveries in a country facing food shortages, state media reported on Wednesday.
Maize is a controlled commodity in Zimbabwe and is sold only to the state-owned Grain Marketing Board, which then distributes it for milling to private firms.
The Herald newspaper said maize prices have been lifted to 31.3 million Zimbabwe dollars ($315.5) a tonne from 2.2 million Zimbabwe dollars ($22) to appease farmers who have in the past complained that low prices were discouraging production.
That makes it on paper far more expensive than South African maize, which on Wednesday was trading at close to $185 a tonne going by the rand exchange rate.
The discrepancy stems in part from the yawning gap between Zimbabwe's official exchange rate of 99,201/dlr and the black market rate of 200,000.