Farmers call for special fuel dispensation

September 24, 2015 in National, News

The Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) has called on government to provide a special fuel dispensation for farmers to cushion them against continued power cuts.

BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA

This comes amid indications that the winter wheat season has failed to produce the desired results, mainly due to unavailability of power and the high cost of alternative energy.

Speaking to NewsDay yesterday, CFU spokesperson Hendrik Olivier said the season had been hampered by serious power shortages.

“Government needs to give a special dispensation to the farmers in terms of fuel. We know that it is going to be abused, but they can take advantage of the farmers’ unions,” Oliver said.

Goromonzi farmer Godfrey Chingwe said the majority of winter wheat farmers in his area had their output projections cut significantly due to power outages.

Chingwe lambasted the agriculture sector’s leadership for failing to formulate sustainable policies that could rescue the sector.

“There is no reason why even rural areas that have minimal production keep getting electricity from the Zesa grid when sectors like agriculture are suffering. Why not engage reputable companies to install solar systems that take just days to put up?” Chingwe said.

“Even the government itself should look at exploiting all the water bodies to produce more electricity. There are dams in every province that can produce enough power for those provinces if properly utilised.”

Zesa had before the start of the winter farming season promised four days of uninterrupted power supply to wheat farmers, but failed to live up to the pledge following a surge in electricity generation in Kariba and Hwange.