‘Farmers need equipping’
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 10 November 2011 16:45
Paidamoyo Muzulu
THE country’s agricultural system has increased the number of people owning
land, but it needs to be supported by equipping the owners with technical
skills and enabling easy access to inputs and dependable financial support
as well as access to technical extension service, newly appointed
Agriculture deputy minister Seiso Moyo has said.
Moyo made these remarks to the Zimbabwe Independent on Tuesday in his first
media interview since being sworn in last month to replace the MDC-T’s
treasurer-general Roy Bennett, whom President Robert Mugabe refused to swear
in since February 2009 when the present coalition government was
inaugurated.
Moyo said the government had resettled more than 200 000 families on about
seven million hectares of land appropriated from some 4 000 former white
commercial farmers since Zimbabwe’s controversial and often chaotic land
reform programme started in February 2000. However, Moyo bemoaned the
limited technical, financial and inputs support the new farmers had received
resulting in a sharp decline in agricultural production.
“It is not enough that they have a piece of land,” said Moyo. “They need
skills and inputs, not necessarily from the government but also from private
financial institutions,” he said.
Moyo said agricultural production could only grow sufficiently to reach the
all-time 1997 record levels if a cocktail of interventions were immediately
implemented. He believes that agricultural growth cannot be discussed in
isolation of the macro-economic framework of the country since agriculture
was tied to the economic fortunes of other sectors of the country’s economy.
“When the basket of support is not adequately filled, you can expect that
the kind of production would not be satisfactory,” Moyo said. “Agriculture
will grow at an average 7% to 9% rate as projected in the Medium Term Plan
for the next three to four years. However, these rates are dependent on all
other sectors of the economy growing at that level.”
He emphasised that most of the new farmers had fallen victim to the erratic
weather obtaining in the country. The summer seasons are now either late or
have long dry spells in the middle which generally affects crops at their
most crucial growth stages. This could, however, be mitigated by irrigation.
However, most irrigation infrastructure was wantonly vandalised by rogue
elements during the infamous land invasions at the turn of the century.
“Due to adverse effects of climate change, it is important that the issue of
irrigation rehabilitation and development be seriously considered. It is
important that the issue of food security be seriously given attention,”
Moyo said.
The government has since enacted the Protection of Water, Power and
Communication Infrastructure to curb cases of vandalism that had become
pervasive. Farmers are failing to irrigate despite the fact that Zimbabwe
has developed many irrigation schemes and dams in the past.
Treasury this year released a combined US$75 million input support scheme
for smallholder and peasant farmers for the 2011/12 agricultural season.
Farmers would receive seed and fertiliser under the scheme to help
kick-start their operations. Some of the inputs would be swapped for the
amounts farmers are owed for grain they delivered to the Grain Marketing
Board in the previous farming season.