THE agricultural sector is eyeing investments from France hoping it gets favourable results from an international rating agency.
In its efforts of furthering bilateral economic ties with Zimbabwe, the French Embassy has partnered local company SeedCo to bring Momagri Agency.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
One of Momagri’s shareholders includes Limagrain that has invested in SeedCo.
Speaking to NewsDay on the sidelines at the launch of the Momagri Agency in Zimbabwe, French Ambassador Laurent Delahousse said part of increasing the production of farmers was through mechanisation in the agricultural sector.
“We have to look into machinery, investment and agricultural firms in France to come do what others are already doing in Zimbabwe, of partnering with Zimbabwean farmers to help them scale up their production and technology. Agriculture is the biggest sector of the economy in Zimbabwe and it is certainly the economic sector which will drive the recovery of the economy of Zimbabwe. France and French companies are interested in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“There is a lot of willingness to partner in that specific sector considering that France is one of the biggest agricultural powerhouses in the world and has been for a very long time. We are targeting agriculture as the next area of cooperation with Zimbabwe.”
He said if enough effort was put into formulating correct policies and development of the agricultural sector, the industry could grow in two to three years and even be able to export.
Investment from France and French agricultural firms will depend on the rating from the Momagri Agency, which is a French-based institution.
As part of its rating, Momagri looks at key indicators that include policies and agricultural markets at its core with the state of food security, optimisation potential in the agricultural sector, efficiency of public policies and support system to the industry.
The agency’s vice-president of strategy and development Xavier Regnaut said part of their goals included fostering a new impetus, the evaluation of the agricultural agency at a global level, providing innovative solutions and addressing key strategic political and economic requirements.
“Given the importance of public policies on the performance of the agricultural sector of a country, policymakers, investors and more generally agricultural markets as a whole, are particularly sensitive to all the elements improving (and vice versa) the efficiency of agricultural policies. That is why Momagri Agency in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation developed the Food and Agricultural Policy Stability Index (FAPSI) indicator,” he said.
The FAPSI indicator will be used in rating the agricultural sector through a host of tools meant to analyse the sector.