‘Zim headed for food crisis’ government
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
December 21, 2012 in News
COMMERCIAL Farmers Union’s president Charles Taffs has castigated government
for failing to come up with clear-cut funding for agriculture, saying the
nation was headed for another food crisis as the new farming season has
begun with nothing to show farmers are ready.
Report by Staff Writer
In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, Taffs said this season the
state of preparedness of farmers is the worst at a time the country is
likely to receive good rains.
“The state of preparedness of the farmers is the worst in the history of
Zimbabwe because government has failed to put in place mechanisms to ensure
farmers get funding,” Taffs said.
Over the last decade Zimbabwe has been unable to produce enough cereals to
meet national requirements. The country has been relying on grain imported
by government, aid agencies and the private sector to cover the deficit.
Recently the World Food Programme said about two million people will require
food aid in 2013.
However, the production shortfall was mainly attributed to the combined
effects of adverse weather, high costs and limited availability of
agricultural inputs on the formal market.
Taffs said this season government, which has always blamed drought, will
have no excuse for food shortages in the country.
“It has always been like this every season for the past 12 years and now
there is hope of enough rains, we will see what the government will say led
to the food crisis,” he said.
“The government is failing to deal with fundamental issues of funding
because of lack of proper land tenure. The farmers cannot access funding
because their land is dead capital,” he said.
In 2012, Zimbabwe had to import up to 300 000 tonnes of maize from Zambia to
feed millions of its citizens who were facing starvation.
However, the bulk of the imported maize supplied to the hungry Zimbabweans
came from former white commercial farmers evicted during the 2000 chaotic
land invasions, and now farming in Zambia.