Debts of $80m accumulated since 2015 for importing wheat, rice and maize are putting pressure on Zimbabwe's agricultural sector amid a worsening foreign currency squeeze that has made it impossible for food processors to buy raw materials on credit.
The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) is among those feeling the heat, which has forced it to hike bread prices about 30% over the past two months.
Bread is now retailing in shops in Harare at between $1.45 and $2 a loaf, a direct response to an increase in wheat prices charged by suppliers.
In a statement, GMAZ general manager Lynette Veremu said mealie meal prices were also set to go up unless packaging manufacturers cut their prices.
Last month, industry & commerce minister Mangaliso Ndlovu prevented millers from increasing the price of bread to $4.
GMAZ chair Tafadzwa Musarara said that since 2005 Zimbabwe had imported nearly $6bn worth of wheat and maize.
"We currently have a legacy debt of $80m worth of wheat, maize and some rice since 2015," he said.
Musarara said the association had the money to pay, but needed the Treasury to make foreign exchange available.
"So we have engaged central bank governor John Mangudya, who committed to work on that."
The millers are believed to have raised the funds required to clear the debt in local currency, but the central bank is struggling to provide the foreign currency to effect payment.
Several foreign grain suppliers have blacklisted Zimbabwe, whose difficult path to food self-sufficiency has become a talking point among economic observers.
In 2000, vast tracts of farmland owned by 4,500 white commercial farmers were taken over by war veterans with the blessing of then-president Robert Mugabe.
The underutilisation of farmland and the allocation of farms to Zanu-PF bigwigs, many of whom allegedly own several farms, are largely blamed for the collapse in agricultural productivity.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government is conducting a land audit with a view to reducing the sizes of farms and flushing out owners of multiple farms.
Mugabe, 94, and his wife, Grace, are alleged to own 21 farms, despite the fact that when he was in office he proclaimed a policy of one man, one farm.
Mnangagwa has been emphatic in the past that under his watch there would be no reversal of the land reform programme.
Lands, agriculture & rural resettlement minister Perence Shiri said this week that the land audit would identify those who owned more than one farm.
Farm checks under way
"The land commission is currently on the ground carrying out land audits where they want to establish the occupants and production levels as well as eliminate multiple-farm ownership," he told the Senate in Harare.
Industry experts said the government had to support agriculture and the manufacturing sectors if there was to be an economic turnaround.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce CEO Christopher Mugaga said the government's "command agriculture" reform programme had helped matters since it was launched two years ago, but more was needed.
"Of course it [the programme] could have its own downside in terms of funding and sustainability, if you look at it from a business point of view, because it's costly and financially unsustainable both to Treasury and the economy," he said.
"However, I think there is still room for improvement. With the land reform there were farmers who were still inexperienced.
"So there is a need for massive training, support from the international community and government. There is also the currency issue. So a number of factors are disadvantaging our farmers."
Musarara said the government should ensure that all essential raw materials were locally available to cushion manufacturers from import costs and minimise price hikes.
"It is in our business interest that we buy raw materials locally . because of the currency issue. Second, supply is somewhat guaranteed and you can plan," he said.
- Additional reporting by Ray Ndlovu..