Obert Chifamba

Agri-Insight

FOR the past three decades or so communal farmers have run a fairy race in which they have built a history that has set them apart as stalwarts in guaranteeing national food security.

Their impressive performance started hogging the limelight just after the country’s independence in 1980 when most large-scale farmers who were predominantly white, then, abandoned food crops such as maize for cash crops in the class of tobacco, paprika, cotton and in some cases cut flowers.

They would only grow yellow for stock feeds and not for human consumption.

That was the time communal farmers seized the opportunity to demonstrate that they had the capacity to take care of their food requirements, as well as those of the entire nation.

They would produce enough for their household requirements and even sell surplus to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

Then, it was quite rewarding and farmers would receive cheques for payments while the cash would be readily available in the banks as well as shops.

That streak has not died and still lives unto this day.

The only change is that it has grown to include non-food but cash crops like tobacco. And the latest statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) are a clear demonstration of the communal farmers’ prowess, as they boast delivering the biggest chunk of this year’s tobacco, which has since been marketed.

With all the farmers in their thousands having so far delivered and sold 70.9 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf worth US$162.4 million, the bulk of it came the communal sector.

TIMB’s weekly bulletin released last week shows that by June 2, farmers had delivered 51.6 million kilogrammes of tobacco with communal farmers contributing nearly half of the deliveries.

Communal farmers had by the said date delivered 21, 7 million kilogrammes – 1 558 691 kg through the auction floors and 50 108 558 kg though the contract floors.

Their counterparts in the A1 category had delivered 13.1 million kilogrammes while the A2 farmers had delivered 12.7 million kilogrammes with the small-scale crew accounting for 3. 5 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf.

In a way communal farmers have managed to turn a disadvantage into an advantage — they have turned their inability to access loans from banks into a strength after the majority sought contractors for tobacco and now they are getting funding, extension services as well as markets.

For maize they are now heavily leaning on Government sponsorship programmes such as the Presidential Free Input Support Scheme and making the most of them.

From the country’s Second Round Crop and Livestock Assessment report, which has indicated that communal farmers will also score the highest maize yields from the 2019/20 summer cropping season, it is becoming evidently clear that matters of food security for the country rest in their hands.

The report makes it clear that the national hectarage under maize was 1.5 million hectares with communal farmers accounting for 894 653 hectares from which they are expected to harvest 291 867 tonnes.

A1 farmers planted 321 531ha with a yield estimate of 219 055 tonnes, A2 farmers planted 150 300ha and expect 275 318 tonnes while the old resettlement sector planted 156 511ha and expects 88 380 tonnes from the season.

Small-scale farmers planted 53 948ha of maize and expect 27 235 tonnes while a further 7 214ha was planted by peri-urban farmers who expect to yield 5 768 tonnes.

Generally, it is estimated that on average, communal areas have produced about two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s maize production for the last 20 years, as most large-scale farmers left maize farming to become a preserve of communal farmers that naturally are not adequately resourced to stand the heat that comes with farming at commercial levels.

The production figures highlighted earlier clearly demonstrate that if the country was to create the right conditions for the communal farmers and provide them with unrestricted access to most of the inputs they need for effective production of crops like maize, they the capacity to feed the entire country on their own.

It is unfortunate that most communal farmers do not have ready access to resources and have to run around every season to get things going while their commercial counterparts can always find contractors to help them, as they have the collateral needed by banks and other lenders.

It may be necessary for Government to help communal farmers with irrigation infrastructure to cushion them from the harsh effect of climate change that have seen recent seasons being ruined by droughts while the economic situation has also not made it easier for everyone, the farmers included.

It is disheartening to note that some of the farmers live within proximities of big rivers whose waters flow into the oceans or other rivers every season without being utilized yet with adequate resources that water can be dammed for later use.

Some even have dams very close to their homesteads and fields yet they are not capacitated to tap into it.

In Zaka district of Masvingo, for instance, there is Siya Dam whose water has never been used to support the community in which it was established.

Villagers around the dam agonisingly watch their crops wilt under the blistering sun every year while those around Bindamombe Dam in Chivi also experience the same.

The dam’s water has also never been used by the local communal farmers except for a few that sometimes do makeshift vegetable gardens at the spillway.

The long and short of this argument is that communal farmers can take care of the country’s food requirements given the necessary support and conditions.

It is also a fact that communal farmers grow most traditional grains like sorghum, millet, rapoko, cow peas and ground nuts, which are key in the food and nutrition security of the country so their role has always been crucial.

It is sad that they continue to be the unsung heroes of the country’s food security because they produce in small quantities but cumulatively, their numbers make it possible for the country to score enough yields to leave it food secure.