Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera, Specialist Writer
STAKEHOLDERS in the agriculture industry held an inception meeting in Harare recently to share insights on the development of a universally accepted agricultural information repository system (AIRS) designed to enhance data-driven decision-making.
The Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) hosted the meeting in which it shared its proposed AIRS for discussion and value addition.
AMA chief executive officer, Mrs Alice Mapfiza said Zimbabwe’s agricultural information ecosystem was highly disaggregated.
“Data is held in silos across ministries, parastatals, private sector institutions, farmers’ organisations and development partners.
“This fragmentation limits our collective ability to fully understand the agricultural landscape from production patterns, crop and livestock performance to market flows, imports and exports, value-chain bottlenecks and food security risks,” she said.
The AMA boss said in line with national development priorities that call for digitalisation of agricultural systems, improved evidence-based planning and strengthened institutional coordination, her organisation was undertaking the development of AIRS as a national public good.
This is consistent with the Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2, which emphasises data-driven decision-making, resilience building and structured market development.
“The purpose of AIRS is not merely to collect data, but to create a single, interoperable and authoritative agricultural information ecosystem, one that will integrate farmer registries, production records, input distribution, output markets, livestock numbers, agro-dealer networks, commodity prices and trade flows.
“When operational, AIRS will enable Government and all stakeholders to answer fundamental questions with accuracy and confidence,” Mrs Mapfiza added.
AMA board member Major-General Hlanganani Dube said information was power, wealth and the way to success yet for Zimbabwe’s agro-based economy official data on agriculture was fragmented.
The AIRS is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2026.
AMA agribusiness director, Mr Jonathan Mukuruba said the initiative involved the development of a centralised information repository database for farmers and stakeholders across the agricultural value chain, enabling data-driven decision-making.
“AIRS is anchored on grower, contractor, stop order, production, crop and livestock insurance, market linkage, returns, billing and finance, compliance report, information management, Geographic Information System (GIS) and central short message service (SMS) modules.
“These 12 functional modules are each aligned with the core responsibilities of the authority and designed to enhance operational efficiency,” he said.
Livestock and Meat Advisory Council (LMAC) and Stockfeed and Manufacturers Association of Zimbabwe (SMAZ) executive administrator, Dr Reneth Mano challenged AMA to develop the system riding on already existing datasets being compiled by players in various sectors of the economy.
“We want the system to come up with micro data on various classes of farmers then develop this to macro data for policy.
“Agriculture data is lying dormant in various Agritex offices in districts, as well as in many abattoirs and voluntary organisations but it’s not digital. AMA can start building on this information,” he said.
AIRS can also capitalise on the already existing Agriculture Information and Management System (AIMS) and Livestock Information Management System (LIMS), he added.
Stakeholders urged AMA to investigate why some of the systems were unsuccessful to avoid the same fate when they take them on board.
Knowledge Transfer Africa chief executive officer, Dr Charles Dhewa opined that the 12 modules were too much and needed to be trimmed if AIRS was to succeed. He also proposed the addition of a buyers and traders’ module.
Federation of Young Farmers Clubs Zimbabwe (FYFCZ) chief executive officer, Mr Edwin Kudangah expressed excitement over the initiative and ease of onboarding farmers and sanitising the farmers’ database.
“Young farmers are the fastest growing group in the agriculture sector, as they are onboarding five to 10 new farmers daily.
“The digital dashboard will play a significant role in ensuring commodity price stability due to controlled demand and supply as a result of market intelligence provided by AIRS,” he highlighted.
Bongani Ndlovu