Zambian National Farmers’ Union President Dr Evelyn Nguleka speech

Government Representative

The President of the Commercial Farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe,

Representatives from other Farmers’ Unions and Agricultural Organizations in Zimbabwe

 

Representatives from Regional Agriculture Organisations

 

Distinguished Guests,

 

Fellow Farmers

 

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

Let me take this opportunity to, on behalf of Zambia National Farmers Union, convey our gratitude to Commercial Farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe for inviting us to this wonderfully organized Annual General Meeting. Thank you.

 

ZNFU is delighted to be in your midst at this year’s AGM. As a Union, we take this unique privilege as an opportunity for both of us to learn and share experiences facing our farmers during these challenging times in
Zambia and Zimbabwe.

 

The President, allow me to also take this rare opportunity to inform you all that, ZNFU is just coming out of its 108th Annual Congress at which event, I was meritoriously elected as the first ever female ZNFU President after 107 years of its existence.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the above milestone out of our 108th Annual Congress is a true testimony that agricultural development not matter where, takes a long time, if not centuries to blossom and endure. There are neither short-cuts nor any other easier way to developing a country’s agriculture, other than the enduring hard work by our farmers, evolving and consistent policy environment and sustained and rewarding agricultural markets.

 

The President, the above milestone also goes to show how Zambian agriculture has continued evolving and moving with the current tides of change.

 

To all farmers here present today, this AGM presents a unique opportunity for you to reflect on your past successes; and to take stock of opportunities and challenges facing Zimbabwean agriculture today.

 

Here is an opportunity yet again for us to learn from our past experiences, drop all that which has not worked for us in the past, and focus more on what has worked for Zimbabwean agriculture as we forge ahead. Let us put the past behind us and focus more on the future, our farmers’ future. The President, everyone today is talking about Zimbabwe’s agricultural potential. Africa and the world are impatiently watching and waiting to see Zimbabwean agriculture awakening.

 

As a region we cannot wait to see Zimbabwean agriculture germinating into that super seed needed to help us feed the yawning globe. You may be asking as to whether this is the right time for the Zimbabwean agriculture awakening? Whether conditions and the environment are right to support the imminent rebirth of Zimbabwean agriculture?

 

The President, time is ripe for Zimbabwean agriculture to rise and turn its hibernating potential into real agricultural production, able to stir up the country’s future economic growth.

 

It is about time, Zimbabwean farmers turned the current times of adversity and challenges into opportunities. This is the time when Zimbabwean Farmers should start seeing change as a prospective springboard for increased agricultural productivity needed to feed not only the locals, but transcend borders and feed deficit countries in the region, Africa and finally the world.

 

The President, the above desired change will not happen naturally. It will have to be earned as a consequence our farmers’ efforts and predictable and good investment policies. The above desired change will require concerted efforts of all stakeholders in the Zimbabwean agricultural sector.

It will only happen when Zimbabwe achieves an all-inclusive agriculture. This will entail bringing together all the stakeholders in the agricultural sector. It will require Government support on one hand to provide a conducive policy environment to guide the growth of the agriculture sector.

 

The needed policy environment should include transparent and consistent investment laws able to provide comfort to any investor in the agricultural sector; consistent and favourable labour laws; taxation and above all genuine public-private sector dialogue.

 

On the other hand, the farmers in Zimbabwe also have to play their part by forming a united and formidable front, able to engage and speak with one voice on behalf of all the players in the agricultural sector. It is out of this need that I find the theme for this AGM, “All Inclusive Agriculture” to be very befitting of today’s event and to the future of Zimbabwean agriculture for years to come.

 

The President, all inclusive agriculture requires a unit of purpose among all players in the agricultural sector. Most important of all is that, this unit of purpose should always start and end with you farmers. In addition to speaking with one voice, you need to always send the right signals to all the stakeholders and must always be open-minded to engage and dialogue.

 

Hence you need a united farmer’s organisation which will act as a magnet to bring together all the stakeholders in the agricultural sector. You need to attract financial institutions, processors, farmers across all races, gender, size, farmer associations as well as other players along all key agricultural value chains to your organization.

 

This is important if Zimbabwean Agriculture sector is to thrive and bounce back to being the bread basket once again, not only of Southern Africa but the entire Africa. However, reaching consensus and speaking with one voice
will not be an easy task. It will require sacrifice, tolerance as well as stretching and working outside your comfort zones. This is achievable, with determination, right social chemistry and focus; I know Zimbabwean farmers will do it

 

The President, allow me at this point to briefly share with you what we have achieved as ZNFU as a result of the unity of purpose which we have created among our members.

 

As you may be aware, currently the Zambian agriculture sector has recorded an average growth rate of 12.5% in the past four years. The country is now self-sufficient and surplus producer in maize production, soyabeans, wheat, sugar and other commodities. Livestock subsectors are also thriving and gearing up for exports mainly to DRC and other countries in the region

 

This has been achieved mainly as a result of conducive policy environment that has sustained agricultural investments and growing production, thanks to sustained public-private sector engagement, dialogue and consensus on a number of policy issues.

 

You may be asking yourselves questions as to how possible this is, given the fact that under normal circumstances, farmers and processors, financial institutions and input suppliers have different agenda and they cannot be on the same table.

 

Well, this has come as a result of cohesion, effective and genuine collaboration amongst the various members of the agricultural sector. With a win-win situation approach, we have been able to foster industry consensus on a number of issues.

 

With the Union’s stewardship, Zambian agriculture has over years established an agricultural platform under which all key agricultural sector parties gather and iron out differences and build consensus on the way forward. This has helped the Union and all other stakeholders in the agricultural sector to speak with one voice on a number of issues affecting agriculture.

 

Stronger linkages between small, medium and large scale farmers are another critical bond when establishing all inclusive agriculture. Linkages between small, medium and large scale farmers help in fostering increased uptake/adoption of appropriate technologies; help in creating market linkages; sustaining production; creating jobs; increasing farm incomes and help in distributing wealth as the national economy grows in tandem.

 

The President, one of the prerequisites to achieving an all-inclusive agriculture, is the need for Zimbabwean farmers to stop looking at each other from the perspective of gender, colour and size of agriculture activities.

 

Instead, farmers here should start working together and strive to be a symbol of admiration from other countries. Both small and large scale farmers must be allowed to equitably contribute to this country’s national food security and exports.

 

May I conclude by thanking you for inviting us to your AGM and for allowing me time to share a few words with you today: this is how it should be: all inclusive agriculture must transcend the Zambezi river. We have to continue working closely together as we strive in repositioning and developing our agricultural sectors, to levels that will allow both sides of the Zambezi have a stranglehold on the region as a food basket.

 

The future of our countries’ agriculture depends on how well we integrate all agricultural players under one umbrella. Zambian and Zimbabwean agriculture has to continue rejuvenating not only to keep afloat, but to grow and blossom into economically, socially, ecologically and politically competitive sectors.

 

On behalf of the ZNFU, I thank you once more and wish you a successful Annual General Meeting.

 

Thank you

 

Dr. Evelyn Nguleka