Drought throttling SA food security

South Africa’s white maize prices on Friday hit record highs, as the country continues to battle a dreadful drought.

The December white maize contract, which expires next week, was 0.6 percent higher at 250 US dollars a tonne after scaling a peak of 255 dollars, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The last quarter of 2015 has been one of the driest. According to an assessment carried out by the South Africa Weather Services, over the last three months, below-normal rainfall occured over most parts of the country.

Although difficult to estimate, the impact of the weather conditions has been attributed to the complex El Nino phenomenon.

Being a staple diet for the majority of South Africans, the prices increase could could further deepen food security in low income households. The woes are advance by the weakening of the rand, which on Friday traded at 15,0260 per dollar.