Mugabe: imposed grain price controls

Smallholdings make up some of the difference, the FAO says.

But overall, maize production at 1.57m tonnes is likely to be down more than a quarter this year, and imports might be as high as 450,000 tonnes.

Earlier in July the situation forced the government, led by President Robert Mugabe, to call for food to be donated to forestall shortages.

And this week the government announced price controls on maize through a state-run Grain Marketing Board which economists say could encourage farmers to hold off from growing maize next year.

In turn, that would exacerbate the food shortages as the country heads into a presidential election in which Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party will try to extend his term into a third decade.

Falling gold and tobacco production and a rapidly sliding exchange rate mean Zimbabwe is extremely short on foreign currency for agricultural imports.

Slim foreign exchange reserves are being further depleted by the heavy burden of importing $40m of fuel a month both for domestic purposes and to support the ongoing military presence in Congo.

On this front, reports in the country's Financial Gazette newspaper suggest that Libya has stepped in with a lifeline, offering Zimbabwe Government fuel worth $360m a year in exchange for exports of Zimbabwean products.

The reported deal follows a recent visit to the country by Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi.