The GOVERNMENT says the agricultural input schemes it has implemented have transformed the livelihoods of millions of communal farmers, who are now food secure, and whom it is working towards turning into commercially viable growers.
Transforming agriculture is at the epicentre of Government’s Vision 2030, which is aimed at ensuring a prosperous upper middle-income society by 2030.
The vision embraces viability of the agriculture sector, as enshrined in the ambitious Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy (2020-2025), which President Mnangagwa launched in 2020.
The strategy seeks to ensure that by 2025, Zimbabwe is food secure, with limited food imports, a country that has deepened and broadened exports of agricultural products, and created employment of up to one million jobs in the agriculture sector.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Settlement Minister Anxious Masuka, said the Government programmes of providing inputs and support services have resulted in improved subsistence farming.
“We have three categories of farmers and the first are communal farmers. The three million households, 62 percent of Zimbabwe’s 9,2 million who daily earn their living from subsistence agriculture, we want to transform them from subsistence farming to commercial farming through interventions such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa, aided by the Presidential Input Scheme.
“After securing food for their own consumption, they will supply 60 percent of the maize to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), as well as provide maize consumed in urban areas,” he said.
Minister Masuka said about 60 percent of agricultural and other works in rural areas are done by women and girls, and, as a result, the Second Republic is drilling over 30 000 boreholes in those areas to ensure easy access to water, which can also be utilised for agricultural purposes.
“I envisage the 30 000 boreholes to restore dignity of the women and girls and be an enabler in changing livelihoods through agriculture,” he said.
On a broader scale and in the face of climate change and droughts, Zimbabwe has been constructing dams, as well as modernising and mechanising farming to sustain agriculture.
According to Minister Masuka, about 360 000 A1 farmers are already commercially oriented and the Government is working towards transforming them into commercial farmers, while the 23 000 A2 farmers are already commercially viable.
Zimbabwe’s ongoing efforts on food security and poverty reduction were complimented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) director-general Qu Dongyu, who was in the country
recently.
He said the transformation of the country’s agriculture sector under President Mnangagwa has had an immeasurable impact on livelihoods, and the Second Republic is leaving no one and no place behind.
The agriculture sector has already hit the initial 2025 target of US$8,2 billion a year as the industry grew by 36,2 percent to US$8,19 billion in 2021 and a further 10 percent last year, owing to the huge financial investments made by the Government.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) director Mr Paul Zachariah said the Government schemes have gone a long way, where some farmers were not able to self-finance and others could not access funding from traditional financiers.
“Government has come in and plugged that gap, so some farmers who otherwise would have not been able to produce anything are now able to produce, making it possible for them to at least feed their own families and use excess production to feed into the country’s strategic national grain reserves,” he said.
Mr Zachariah said, in addition to that, the issue of climate proofing has also ensured that inputs do not go to waste, especially when there are prolonged dry spells during the production period.
“Therefore, the schemes have come in handy and have been useful in the absence of any other alternatives to produce and ensure the country is food secure,” he said.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat)’s eighth round of the rapid Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Survey (PICES), national consumption of own produce mainly in rural areas has improved.
ZimStat director-general Mr Taguma Mahonde said the eighth round rapid PICES 2022 shows that consumption of own produce at national level improved from 43 percent in round 7 to 48 percent in round 8.
“Resultantly, 41 percent of households were willing to buy maize meal in round 8, a decrease from 46 percent in round 7,” he said.
He added that in rural areas, the demand for maize meal dropped from 41 percent in round 7 to 32 percent in round 8, as they depend mostly on their own production of maize.
Economist Mr Clemence Machadu said, in Zimbabwe, the majority of the population live in rural areas and thrive on subsistence agriculture to sustain their livelihoods.
He said input schemes from the Government are indispensable in fostering food security, especially when coming from droughts as was the case last year.
“These schemes should be structured in a manner that ensures sustainability by making sure that communal farmers strictly follow agronomic best practices after receiving inputs in order to realise optimum yield,” he said.
He noted that input schemes should also take a business approach that compels farmers to be productive and hardworking.
Earlier in the year, the Government set the pre-planting producer prices for strategic commodities, setting the tone for increased production for the 2022/2023 summer season.
Maize was set at US$335 per tonne in a new pricing model, which it says is consistent with achieving food security and macro-economic stability. Soya beans and sunflower will fetch US$597,59 and US$687,23, respectively. – Sunday Mail
