HARARE, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe has forecast a massive rebound in maize production this year, hoping to alleviate the country's food insecurity caused by a severe drought last year.

Addressing a post-cabinet media briefing on Tuesday in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Jenfan Muswere said the southern African country is expecting maize output to rebound to 2,928,206 metric tons this year, up from last year's 635,000 metric tons, thanks to improved rainfall.

Maize is a major crop in Zimbabwe, which has an annual grain requirement of about 2.2 million metric tons.

The minister said that resources will continue to be provided to the Grain Marketing Board, the country's leading grain trading and marketing entity, to facilitate payments for grain deliveries by farmers.

Last year, Zimbabwe was hit by one of the worst El Nino-induced droughts in decades, which cut cereal production by 77 percent and left 60 percent of the country's population food insecure, according to the government.

In April last year, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a state of disaster over the drought and appealed for more than three billion U.S. dollars to respond to the drought crisis.

With a recovering agricultural industry in sight, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Program have recently removed Zimbabwe from their hunger hotspots list. ■