Charles Dhewa
While a changing climate is already exerting enormous pressure on Zimbabwean agriculture, the sector has to deal with five urgent priorities, explained below:11. Market development
This is a top priority for Zimbabwean agriculture. While funding is often spoken of as if it’s the most important priority, the most important missing link is market availability, market behaviour and market set-up for most agricultural commodities.
Regarding availability, markets are generally not there. For instance, farmers are actually struggling to sell wheat because the few buyers are choosy, describing local wheat as of poor quality. In the horticulture sphere, crops like garlic do not have a recognised market.
If the majority of farmers with the right conditions are to produce tomatoes, the market is certainly inadequate. That is why a few large-scale commercial farmers sometimes cause gluts. Processing tomatoes for the local market is not a viable business option. You cannot venture into processing tomato puree where there is a glut of fresh tomatoes which the majority of consumers are used to.
There is also no market for fresh peas unless they are destined for the export market. Other commodities without a clear market are baby marrow and sweet corn. You can’t be a serious commercial producer when you depend on sporadic markets. As has become clear over the past decade, there is no reliable local market for serious commercial maize producers in Zimbabwe.
While the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is presented as the major buyer of maize, its capacity is 500 000 tonnes, mostly strategic grain reserves. Once it reaches its target, it stops buying. Since maize production in Zimbabwe goes way beyond 500 000 tonnes if properly done, finding a market for excess maize is a headache for most farmers who end up resorting to predatory buyers.
To the extent that the GMB should be understood as a buyer of last resort, farmers should explore other market options before resorting to the GMB. However, a major paradox is that the buyer of last resort tends to offer the best price. Farmers should understand that the GMB is not the customer but a holding facility for millers who are the customers for both the GMB and farmers.
Farmers should explore other market options before resorting to the GMB
Nothing prevents farmers from dealing directly with the customer (millers). Another commodity which struggles with finding a market is soya bean. It has become much cheaper for stock feed manufacturers to import than extract soya meal for livestock from local soya bean.
The set-up of the local market is such that it takes limited quantities due to limited processing capacity. Generally there are very few processing companies. Oil companies such as United Refineries and those in the livestock feed business such as Feed Mix, take very few quantities of commodities.
Although Cairns is said to have started doing business with Michigan beans, it does not have the capacity to absorb significant quantities. For instance, the company has only contracted a few farmers. That means production capacity remains un-explored due to limited processing capacity. While a new company known as Best Fruit Processors based in Norton is expected to fill the huge processing vacuum, it has started on a rather poor note, according to farmers.
Paying farmers 10c/kg of tomatoes is completely unattractive to the majority of tomato producers, even in cases where inputs are provided. Calculations by farmers show that a farmer who produces 80 000 tons per hectare of tomatoes will get $8000 from Best Fruit Processors. Subtracting $4 500 – $5000 cost of production leaves the farmer in the red. The glamour of dealing with big processing companies is yet to translate into more money in the farmer’s pocket.
While livestock markets are generally available, they also have their own limitations. For instance, cattle farmers are still unhappy with not earning money from the fifth quarter. This issue has been on the discussion table for more than a decade. For farmers to fully grasp market availability, behaviour and set-up, each sector should conduct regular and thorough research in line with market dynamics for each commodity.
2. Irrigation and water
development
This is an important second priority. Zimbabweans are wasting rainfall and water. During the rainy season, the bulk of the water flows to oceans carrying top soils and causing all forms of land degradation. The country has numerous catchments, sub-catchments, rivers, dams, boreholes, weirs, wetlands and many other water reservoirs including contour ridges. Less than 30 percent of Zimbabwe’s land is not close to a stream or river.
Unfortunately, most streams are completely dry, 30 minutes after a heavy downpour and this shows nothing is being done to capture rainfall for immediate and future use.
Farmers and communities should be encouraged to corner streams into wells and weirs so that they can also irrigate summer crops. Who said irrigation is only for winter cropping? During summer, most water tables are very high and this makes water harvesting very easy. Farmers can easily carry water manually onto their pieces of crop fields or use petrol pumps to irrigate rather than watch streams dry.
Farmers and communities should be encouraged to corner streams into wells and weirs so that they can also irrigate summer crops
It is unforgivable for a maize crop to dry when streams pass 100 metres near the field. It doesn’t require complicated engineering to create small water reservoirs at community level. Local and village level water sources are more useful in practical ways than large dams such as Kunzwi and Tokwe Mukosi which may not supply enough water for large communities without negative socio-economic and environmental impacts.
In many African countries, large dams that have been commissioned by the World Bank and other development agencies have caused more harm than good. Rather than preach the virtues of big dams whose only benefit may be providing water for consumption to growing cities, there should be a policy that promotes building of water reservoirs at community levels to harvest rainfall and water. While resources are going to formal irrigation schemes, it doesn’t help to build an irrigation scheme which caters for one tenth of a community’s population. In most irrigation schemes where plot holders have become permanent, major ownership conflicts have been reported. Plot holding is not by merit and that is why most irrigation schemes are under-utilised.
Rather than continue with the centralised irrigation schemes model, Government and development actors should empower communities to democratise water harvesting so that everyone can at least get water from weirs or wells in a sustainable manner. If properly set up, community weirs do not cause conflicts especially if located at least 500 metres apart.
3. Maximum land utilisation and farming practices
This is a fundamental priority related to:
Soil analysis — particularly tasting prior to planting a crop. A culture of soil testing has to be cultivated among farmers. The cost of soil sampling should also be made cheaper and should not be centralised in Harare.
Type of fertiliser and application — While most smallholder farmers are still stuck with the 7 (Nitrogen), 14 (Phosphorus) and 7 (Potassium) formula, a few knowledge-seeking farmers, informed by soil sampling, have shifted to formulas like 10 24 20, mainly for maize. Serious farmers cannot continue with old school fertiliser recommendations. In addition to lack of knowledge on the purpose of soil analysis, there seems to be too much resistance to change among farmers.
In order to be food secure as a nation, we have to increase crop and livestock yields. That can only happen if farmers understand their soils intimately. They should be aware that different fertiliser companies recommend different fertilisers and also generate different soil analyses which lead to different interpretations.
Recommendations by fertiliser companies are increasingly becoming questionable because they are commercially driven in order to sell more fertiliser. Different agronomists recommend different fertiliser levels.
Although there seems to be a shortage in soil analysis services, if farmers start demanding these services, more players will come on board. At the moment Aglab, Zimlab, DR&SS and SIRDC are the only organisations offering soil testing and analyses services for the whole country. There is also an acute absence of services that analyse nutrients in the fertiliser bought by farmers. After buying a bag of fertiliser, a farmer should get the fertiliser tested to verify if the nutrients written on the packaging label are actually there. Farmers end up just believing that what is written is correct — 6 percent N; 28 percent P & 23 percent K. The presence of trace elements such as Boron, Zinc and Magnesium should also be verified through analyses.
Soil analysis contributes 60 – 65 percent of a farmer’s yield. Without soil analysis, a lot of knowledge will remain hidden from farmers. For instance, most red soils in Zimbabwe particularly sandy loams have been found to contain high phosphorus.
Accurate soil analysis can reduce the cost of production. A farmer who used to apply 30 bags of fertiliser for a hectare of potatoes, was able to change to 15 bags per hectare after conducting soil analyses. Another young farmer who used to apply 60 – 90 grams of fertiliser per tomato plant changed to 42 grams per tomato plant following advice from soil analyses. The farmer was able to save 2c/plant in basal fertiliser, translating to 33 percent savings on resources.
Another missing service is water testing. Some water is very hard, particularly borehole water which often has iron and other minerals.
As a result crops find it hard to absorb. On the other hand, water from rivers is softer because is it always flowing. Water analysis impacts on plant growth, yields and quality which has a bearing on market acceptance. There is a lot of hidden science in agriculture waiting to be unearthed if agriculture is going to be viable in an era of diminishing resources.
4. Farming equipment and infrastructure
This is an important 4th priority. The majority of farmers do not have the right equipment for land preparation up to planting. The importance of equipment has been shown by how the Brazil equipment programme has transformed lives in Rushinga and Jalaki farm which have started producing seed maize for the first time. ARDA projects in Matabeleland South have also started doing well as a result of equipment availability.
Availing equipment such as tractors will enable farmers to plant bigger pieces of land on time. There is definite need for an equipment facility in farming communities as well as infrastructure development in the form of roads, storage facilities, dip tanks and community markets.
5. Funding (Capital Expenditure and Working Capital)
This is the last priority in the list. Capital expenditure should be spread over five years for easy repayment. It should also be specific to avoid misuse. For instance, the Government can pay suppliers to avail equipment to farmers rather than releasing liquid funds. Repayment can be done through the market system, for instance, stop order arrangements. Working capital can also be repaid through the market.
Charles Dhewa is a proactive knowledge management specialist and chief executive officer of Knowledge Transfer Africa (Pvt) (www.knowledgetransafrica.com) whose flagship eMKambo (www.emkambo.co.zw) has a presence in more than 20 agricultural markets in Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on: [email protected] ; Mobile: +263 774 430 309 / 772 137 717/ 712 737 430.