ZIMBABWE requires a clearly defined agricultural policy to allow for increased production and ensure food security, agricultural experts said. The increase in communal tobacco farmers has raised concern as the custodians of grain production in the country are now concentrating on cash crop production. Statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board show that 41 171 communal farmers have registered to grow tobacco, from last year’s figure of 39 922 communal farmers. Agricultural experts said there was need to depoliticise agricultural policies if the goal of food security is to be achieved as currently agricultural land in Zimbabwe is not bankable, while poorly implemented policies have led to poor agricultural production and agricultural financing is mainly focussed on tobacco and cotton.Agricultural expert Vincent Gwarazimba said there was no clearly defined food policy despite government trying to justify the land redistribution policy as a success. “Government needs to come up with a policy that covers all crops. Tobacco is not the only cash crop. Maize wheat and soybean can be and are cash crops. But what fails farmers is pricing of these crops. Tobacco prices are determined by the market while government seems to peg prices of these other crops. Hence a food policy that guarantees market prices that provides a structured market and stops middlemen from agricultural commodity markets,” Gwarazimba said.

He said there was need for a pre-planting price as an indication of market prices of commodities with guarantees of delivery payment by government or industry. “South African agriculture is driven by futures markets based on intern commodity trading. While our farmers have no access to futures markets, government and industry with commodity dealers should strive to work with and towards futures market. Food policy must also be based on land use. A land use policy would encourage and oblige farmers to use land for its suitability,” Gwarazimba said.

Lack of or poorly implemented comprehensive enabling policy has adversely affected general productivity. New and progressive policy frameworks are crafted but farmers are always
anxiously waiting for government to implement the measures to boost productivity, but to no avail. Bulawayo South legislator Eddie Cross said for farmers to be productive and profitable, they needed financing, security of their assets and control over the means of production, timeous inputs and a market for their crops that will give farmers a decent return.
“Zimbabwean farmers, almost without exception, are faced with a situation that they can only meet such minimum conditions when growing a crop under contract with someone who will finance the crop and guarantee a market. This was the case with cotton but that has collapsed following the decline in world prices and the failure of the cotton companies to maintain their support for the farmers. In the case of tobacco, the major international buyers are supporting the crop with funding, inputs, advice and then they buy the crop either through the auctions or by contract.

“The collapse of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and its failure to provide a market for grain and oilseed crops means that farmers who do grow such crops must depend on the millers for a market, they in turn simply want their raw materials at the lowest price possible, all regional States have large surpluses and in many cases Malawi and Zambia they have few alternatives and will sell their grain at almost any price. No one is funding inputs or providing advice, so what do farmers do? They grow crops that they can sell and at the moment that
is only tobacco. As a consequence we are not able to provide for our basic food needs,” Cross said.

The country imports 70 percent of its food needs, over 100 000 tonnes of maize per month, 30 000 tonnes of wheat every month, including 300 000 tonnes of soyabeans.
Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product has shrunk to less than half the size it was in 1998. The land reform programme has played a very substantial part in inducing the contraction because of reductions in commercial farm output. The non-servicing of debts and the erosion of property rights have kept investors away. International support in most areas other than food security has been minimal.

“The traditional balance of payments support by institutions like the IMF has not been forthcoming. Whereas previously agricultural export earnings easily covered any need to import
maize in drought years this position has not applied since 2002. The situation now is that the balance of payments situation has deteriorated and Zimbabwe has had to forego imports of
other vital goods needed for development in order to ensure that a reasonable degree of food security is maintained. Luckily international donors have often come to the rescue by directly supporting food aid programmes,” Cross added.

Teresa Smart and Joseph Hanlon writers of Zimbabwe Takes Back its Land said that if farmers are to be productive and grow food crops, they cannot depend on political slogans, but they should be given the necessary support to allow them to be productive.

“Because there is organised and structured support for tobacco and not food crops, farmers are therefore correctly responding to the market. Contract farming provides inputs on credit
and support with building small tobacco barns, and the auction system ensures a reasonable price in cash,” Hanlon said.

According to Hanlon, Zimbabwe had a successful agricultural market system in the 80s when it transferred maize production from white to black farmers.
“GMB prices were increased and buying was directed to peasant producers. Agritex focus was moved to the communal sector. And there was seed and fertiliser available on credit. It was a huge success. So Zimbabwe knows how to do it. And it is doing this with tobacco, but no longer with maize.

“The 1980s land reform farmers became important maize producers, and we have seen the 2000 land reform farmers becoming important tobacco and maize producers. But the best new farmers are sensibly concentrating on tobacco, which is supported and has more chance of profit and Tobacco companies have understood the importance of supporting A1 farmers.”

Different farming sectors need different kinds of support; the biggest boost in maize production would be to support A1 farmers to move up from less than one tonne per hectare to three
tonnes per hectare. The single biggest constraint is that A1 farmers cannot afford enough fertiliser. However, the country remains in serious fiscal difficulty and does not have the cash to provide support for food producers.

“If Zimbabwe does want domestic food production to cover needs in most years, it only has to adopt the policy of the early 1980s or the policy of the tobacco companies,” said Hanlon.
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