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The command agriculture scheme introduced by Government recently to be financed by a $500 million facility might be the panacea to the country’s perennial food challenges and it needs all national stakeholders’ support.
After giving over 300 000 Zimbabweans arable land in prime commercial farming areas, it is everyone’s hope that the country should be able to feed itself and the command agriculture scheme is one of the many strategies to achieve self-food sustenance.
The programme that aims to produce two million tonnes of maize on selected 400 000 hectares of land, will see identified farmers being given inputs, irrigation and mechanised equipment to ensure that it succeeds.
The farmers, to work under strict supervision from Government agriculture experts, will be required to commit five tonnes per hectare to Government as repayment for the inputs and agricultural equipment.
To most of our farmers in regions that produce maize who have been yearning for loans from commercial banks that were, however, not coming by, this is the golden opportunity for them to relaunch themselves and establish viable agricultural businesses.
The inputs farmers are receiving from Government are as good as bank loans that are, however, extended to them through concessionary interest rates or no interests at all.
Although critics wish the scheme failure, history has shown that farmers in some parts of the country such as Mashonaland Central, Mash West provinces, some parts of Midlands and Manicaland can make the country proud.
There have been some 10 tonnes clubs in Mashonaland West and Central provinces without such Government support and with such initiatives from Government, surely the sky will be the limit for them.
Instead of criticising the Government and suggesting other schemes now, we implore all stakeholders to join hands with the State and ensure the command agriculture scheme succeeds.
This is the debut of the scheme and therefore all the challenges such as the late disbursement of the inputs will be addressed in future programmes as the Government perfects the scheme.
What is critical at this juncture is to ensure that all the farmers who are going to be part of this scheme play ball.
All the inputs meant for the 400 000 hectares should be used for that purpose and all the people who divert them to other uses should be brought to book.
There are some Zimbabweans out there who have no respect for Government loan schemes and do not payback some loans extended to them. We call upon the Government officials vetting the farmers to ensure that those who do have capacity to produce the required amount of tonnes be spared from this programme this year until a time when they are properly capacitated.
The Government is aware of how previous agriculture finance schemes have been abused and it is our hope that measures are already in place to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
We suggest that to ensure maximum productivity on farms, the beneficiaries of the command agriculture scheme must also mobilise money to buy some inputs elsewhere to augment what they are receiving from Government.
All the beneficiaries of the land reform programme should know that receiving land from Government came with huge responsibility to produce food and cash crops for the country to ensure food security and economic growth.
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Online Reporter