Southern Africa: Limited supplies, biofuel demand push maize prices up

Increased global demand for biofuel has pushed up the already buoyant price of maize in South Africa, forcing aid agencies to procure food from elsewhere to feed an expected more than six million food-insecure people in southern Africa. After a second consecutive poor maize harvest in South Africa, which usually meets food shortfalls in the region, prices have been high, according to the latest USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-NET).