Online Reporter
Creating sustainable demand for agricultural commodities is key to unlocking better prices and incomes for Zimbabwean farmers, an agriculture expert has said.
This emerged at the recent public lecture organised by Zimpapers and its partners.
The lecture was held under the theme: “Smart Harvest, Resilient Nation: Agriculture as Zimbabwe’s Climate and Economic Shield.”
Responding to questions, AMA chief executive, Ms Alice Mapfiza, said the authority was prioritising market development for crops in which Zimbabwe had a comparative advantage, in order to drive price discovery and improve rural livelihoods.
Ms Mapfiza said that without markets for both crops and livestock, there would be no farmers and no agricultural growth.
“We encourage any farmer engaged in agricultural production – whether under irrigation or dryland conditions – to ensure that there is a reliable buyer who will pay a lucrative price for their produce at harvest time.
Our mandate is to ensure that farmers are linked to local, regional or international markets for fair pricing,” she said.
Ms Mapfiza added that farmers were rational people who undertook farming for profitability.
Successful farming starts from the output market and cascades back to determine the production method to be adopted.
“Standards are a big issue: who are you producing for, and what standards are required to determine the output price?” she said.
Ms Mapfiza noted that farmers could only be encouraged to register and comply with the law if they knew that their production was part of an organised market instrument.
For a long time, the country had been marketing largely imported crops while neglecting the promotion of low-cost crops such as sweet potatoes.
Zimbabwe has a comparative advantage in the production of sweet potatoes and traditional grains, but effective demand has been the major challenge.
“It is very easy for any farmer to produce sweet potatoes in Zimbabwe, but because we have not raised the demand for sweet potato flour, buns, bread and biscuits, people will not see the value,” she added.
The Director of the University of Zimbabwe Agro-Industrial Park (UZAIP), Dr Jacob Gusha, said the institution had transformed the traditional farm into a synchronised ecosystem, where crops are grown, processed, packaged and sold – bolstering local supply and supporting import substitution.
This shift, which is in line with the Government’s Heritage-Based Education 5.0 philosophy, the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS 2) and Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030, contributes to import substitution, particularly in cooking oil and stockfeeds, while also supporting job creation, value addition, and food and nutrition security.
Under crop production, the park is adding value by processing bio-fortified sweet potatoes into bread.
The Chief Director for Business Development, Markets and Trade in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, Mr Clement Bwenje, said the Government was consolidating production of crops in which Zimbabwe had a comparative advantage, through agro-ecological tailoring.
“The Government is promoting climate-smart agricultural production under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme, with farmers in agro-ecological regions four and five being mandated to produce traditional grains — sorghum, finger millet and pearl millet.
Those in agro-ecological regions that receive better rainfall are mandated to produce the staple grain, maize, and other commercial oilseeds,” he said.
To instil demand for nutrition-rich traditional grains, the Government, through the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), has established a one-for-one swap of traditional grains with maize.
This allows farmers to exchange one bucket of traditional grain with one bucket of maize at GMB silos.
