Zambia will not export maize this year although the country has recorded a surplus of 160,000 tons of the cereal, as a precautionary measure to fight poor rains in some parts of the country, a minister has said.

Sunday's Zambia Daily Mail cited Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Ben Kapita as saying there was no cause to panic over availability of maize, which is Zambia's staple food, because the country produced 1,448,698 tons of the crop with 160,000 tons as surplus.

"So far we are secure in terms of food security. The food we have can take us up to August next year," Kapita said.

The country's food reserve agency has bought 398,000 tons of maize from farmers as reserve.

The decision of the Zambian government to allow the agency to export maize has been rescinded due to an unfavorable rain pattern.

Forecasts indicate the likelihood of normal rainfall in the 2006/07 farming season over much area of the country while certain areas will receive rainfall of below normal.

The southern African country experienced food shortage last year as a result of the lack of rainfall exacerbated by food exports to neighboring countries in the previous year.