Online Reporter
Walter Nyamukondiwa and Theseus Shambare recently in KADOMA
The Government has underscored the central role of farms in anchoring national food security, saying large-scale producers are stabilising supplies and prices of basic commodities, even in the face of climate shocks.
The next step is cascading the development model to communal and small-scale farmers, where value addition hubs will be set up to absorb produce.
Under the National Development Strategy Two (NDS2), the Government is accelerating the transformation of agriculture from primary production into a value-driven sector that supports food availability, price stability, rural industrialisation and economic growth.
While commercial farms remain critical anchors of this transformation, the approach is also being extended to rural and smallholder settings, where local agro-processing and value addition are being promoted as game changers for inclusive development.
Speaking during a crop assessment tour in Mashonaland West Province last Friday, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said Zimbabwe’s food security drive was being strengthened by farmers who are operating agriculture as a business rather than subsistence activity.
“What we are seeing across our productive farms is a shift towards integrated production systems that combine growing, processing and marketing.
“This is what stabilises supplies of grain, flour and bread and shields the country from price volatility,” said Prof Jiri.
Government, he said, had succeeded in stimulating production at household, communal, A1 and commercial level to build critical mass for the next phase of establishing
This, he said, was being done through the establishment of business units, which will lead to the next layer of cluster-based industrial development ecosystems.
He was speaking after touring Brompton Ranch, owned by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Dr Vangelis Haritatos, which has evolved from a traditional cattle ranch into a diversified large-scale production and processing enterprise.
At the farm, 13 hectares have been placed under dryland cropping, 404 hectares under irrigation and a further 102 hectares under soya beans.
The farm also undertakes large-scale winter wheat production, taking advantage of irrigation infrastructure to ensure year-round output.
Prof Jiri said the production model demonstrated how commercial farms could contribute directly to national food security while feeding into downstream industries.
“Part of the produce from this farm is delivered to the Grain Marketing Board, strengthening the Strategic Grain Reserve, while the remainder is processed locally into mealie-meal and bread,” he said.
“That integration from field to finished product is exactly what we want to see replicated.”
Providing an update on the provincial crop situation, Mashonaland West Province Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) acting director Mrs Evelyn Ndoro said the province was performing well across most major crops.
“We have exceeded our provincial targets in maize, groundnuts and tobacco.
“On sorghum, we are close to the target, with about 42 000 hectares planted against a target of 46 000 hectares, and we are still verifying figures as some ARDA-contracted farmers received inputs late but managed to plant,” said Mrs Ndoro.
She said cotton was the only crop lagging behind due to seed unavailability in parts of the province, adding that overall crop conditions remained favourable.
Host farmer, Deputy Minister Haritatos, said he hoped the integrated farming model being implemented at his farm would be replicated across Zimbabwe.
“When farmers add value to what they produce, they strengthen food security, create jobs and build resilience across the economy,” he said.
