Deputy Minister Marapira
Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter
Farmers have been urged to take advantage of available input support programmes to boost production, ensure national food and nutrition security, and generate wealth from the agricultural sector. Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister (Cropping) Davis Marapira made the call at the 66th graduation ceremony at Gwebi College in Zvimba last Friday, where 65 graduates received diplomas in agriculture.
Deputy Minister Marapira encouraged the graduates to explore new methods and innovations that could help the country achieve food self-sufficiency.
“We have no other option than to do this. We need self-sufficiency not only in maize production and other grains, but in many agricultural products. This is the reason why Government has embarked on Command Agriculture recently, with effect from the 2016-17 season. Last season, Command Agriculture focused specifically on maize production and achieved great success. As you may be aware, Government is now considering taking Command Agriculture into livestock production. I urge all farmers to take advantage of these Government programmes to improve their production,” he said. Deputy Minister Marapira said there was need for the livestock sector to boost production of beef, milk, chicken, pork and fish.
“In horticulture, we need to produce enough vegetables, fruit and other such products for our nation,” he said. Deputy Minister Marapira advised graduates that since employment in Government was now limited, they should strive to become agricultural entrepreneurs. He emphasised on the importance of value addition and the need for the agricultural sector to maximise profits.
“It is essential for us to focus on ways of adding value to our agricultural products rather than selling them off in the basic or primary form,” said Deputy Minister Marapira. Value addition of agricultural products facilitates efficient marketing of those products. We need people who can think of setting up industries that add value to products and thus take the agricultural sector to the next level.”
University of Zimbabwe dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Professor Charles Mtisi said the goal of the Food and Nutrition Policy of Zimbabwe was to promote and ensure adequate food and nutrition security for all people at all times. He said this was in line with the nation’s cultural norms and values and the concept of rebuilding and maintaining family dignity.
“The challenges faced in the promotion of food and nutrition security and generating wealth from the agriculture sector include motivating farmers and processors to produce food in sufficient quantities at affordable prices and with necessary variety to meet nutritional need of all citizens, while generating profit for the producers to be able to sustain the production and processing activities without subsidies,” said Prof Mtisi.
“The second is to create an environment that promotes growth in all sectors of the economy from which citizens derive their livelihoods to allow them to generate surpluses with which they can use to access all their nutritional requirements. The third challenge is to ensure that the agricultural sector operates at a scale and level of competitiveness that provide sufficient access to high-value markets that promote wealth.”