South Africa may face costly sorghum imports

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Once South Africa was the world’s seventh biggest exporter of sorghum, now SA may have to import a significant amount of the grain this year, as risk-averse farmers are thought to have planted less of the crop despite its ability to tolerate hot, dry weather.

The country may have to ship in as much as 90,000 tonnes of sorghum in the 2016-17 production year, according to estimates from Grain SA. This would be an increase on imports of 27,000 tonnes last year and 8,000 tonnes in the previous year.

Sorghum is commonly used in the production of beer and in animal feed and is often regarded as a replacement crop for maize due to its low input requirement costs and its ability to withstand severe drought. It is the fifth most important cereal crop in the world.