#grains and #cereals are #SouthAfrica's most important crops, occupying more than 60 percent of hectare under cultivation in the 1990s. Maize, the country's most important crop, is a dietary staple, a source of livestock feed, and an export crop. Government programs, including generous loans and extension services, have been crucial to the country's self-sufficiency in this enterprise. Maize is grown primarily in North-West, Mpumalanga, Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. As of the mid-1990s, maize production generated at least 150,000 jobs in years with good rainfall and used almost one-half of the inputs of the