THE agricultural portfolio should be pulled out of the belly of politics, if the sector is to perform viably, a farmers’ organisation has said.
Over a decade of underproduction in the agricultural sector has seen the country battling with intermittent food shortages since 2000. 
Farmers’ organisations say there are some long-term solutions that could be employed so Zimbabwe could see the back of food insecurity once and for all.
“The whole agricultural portfolio should be pulled out of politics and be based only on economic value. If we base on any other values it’s not going to work,” Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) president Charles Taffs told the Financial Gazette this week.

“Let’s drop this black and white issue in agriculture. It has gone on too long. Let’s get busy and produce. The only way we can do this is if we all pull in one direction.”
According to CFU, while national consumption is two million tonnes, maize production this year was 650 000 and 750 000 tonnes in 2012.
According to a recently-published Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) rural livelihoods report, some 2,2 million people — one in four of the rural population — will need food assistance during the pre-harvest period of January–March 2014.

“We don’t have to be in this situation. We have ample land, ample water, ample people, ample everything,” said Taffs.
Berean Mukwende of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) agrees that it is not necessary for Zimbabwe to be food insecure.
“It does not make sense for Zimbabwe to import maize or to need any other food assistance for that matter. We have a comparative advantage when compared to our neighbours. We have the best climate, the best soil and the best hydrological factors,” Mukwende said.