Oliver Kazunga, Acting Business Editor 

ZIMBABWE needs to promulgate policies that attract investments in agriculture in light of the changes that have been created by the agrarian reforms, which have altered dynamics in the sector.

Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri said this while officially opening his Ministry’s 2020 Strategic Planning Workshop at a hotel in Bulawayo yesterday.

The Government embarked on a successful Land Reform programme in 2000.

“Our food security policies have fallen short of attracting investments in the sector and ensuring economic growth. 

“There is, therefore, a compelling need for agricultural policies to attract investment in the sector given the changes that have been brought by the agrarian reforms that remarkably altered the structure of farms, production systems, markets and labour relations,” he said.

Minister Shiri said the world over, governments use policies to influence agricultural production, marketing and trade. 

“I therefore would like to urge you to conclude on the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy (2019 – 2023), and the National Agriculture Policy Framework (2019 – 2030), and immediately start work to develop the Zimbabwe Agriculture Investment Plan II (2020 – 2030).

“The work on the National Land Policy needs to be concluded as a matter of urgency,” he said, adding that the above four documents were among the critical documents that are key to attracting investors in the agriculture sector. 

“They need to be in place before we can host a high impact agriculture investment indaba.”

Minister Shiri said it was in the public domain that Zimbabwe’s balance of trade was always negative as the country was importing more than it exports. 

In this light, he said it was critical that bold decisions are taken as well as investing in local production of some of the essentials in the agriculture sector such as drugs for notable diseases like foot and mouth. 

“We should also increase the focus and thrust of assembling mechanisation and irrigation equipment locally with a view to reduce pressure on scarce foreign currency,” he said. 

Minister Shiri noted that climate change cuts across all sectors including agriculture and thus his Ministry should build the capacity of farmers to be resilient to climate change shocks and stresses such as drought, floods, crop and livestock diseases, among others. 

“The development of 200 hectares of irrigation schemes per district per year and the development of other new irrigation schemes and rehabilitation of non-functional irrigation schemes will mitigate effects of  drought. 

“I expect intensification of this work in the next five years.”

He said the country’s land dispute resolution mechanism needs to be clear to all stakeholders and religiously followed with the Land Commission required to adhere to timelines stipulated in the Act for dispute resolutions in order for society to have confidence in the whole system.

Minister Shiri said farmers are investors who only invest where the probability of getting positive returns are high and security is guaranteed. 

To mitigate cases of farm disputes, Government will also enforce maximum farm sizes per region and one-man-one-farm policy.

He said there are 11 parastatals that fall under the purview of his Ministry adding that the role of State enterprises in economic development need not to be overemphasised.

“I do not expect parastatals in my Ministry to be a drain on the fiscas but to positively contribute and declare dividends. Some parastatals are only able to pay their staff salaries and contribute nothing to the fiscus. Going forward, this will not be allowed.”

In the past, he said parastatals used to contribute 40 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and this needs to be resuscitated. 

“To this end, I am expecting two outputs from this workshop namely, the 2020-2025 Ministry Strategic Plan and the Ministry Integrated Performance Plan which is basically the Permanent Secretary Performance Contract.

“As we move forward out of this workshop, departments are expected to reduce the Ministry Integrated Performance Plan into respective Departmental Integrated Performance Plans (DIPAs) and individual officers’ work plans. 

“These must be agreed to and signed for in line with the Results Based Management Framework (RBM),” said Minister Shiri.

He said each department within his Ministry should come up with a practical programme of action and practical solutions for implementation on the ground to spearhead production, productivity, competitiveness and solve challenges that bedevil the country’s agriculture sector. 

It is hoped that this year’s strategic planning workshop would be implementable and monitored using the Rapid Results Initiative approach where there is regular reporting of progress on activities. — @okazunga.