adminThe Government early this month turned down an appeal by the Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company to export fertiliser, arguing that local demand had to be met first.
Spokesperson for the fertiliser industry, who is also Chemplex Corporation chief executive Mr Misheck Kachere, told New Ziana operational challenges had affected production.
“It is true that there is a shortage of AN fertiliser on the market at the moment and it is due to the liquidity challenges in the economy. We cannot buy raw materials and pay utility bills especially to Zesa,” he said.
“In the past three months we lost about 15 000 tonnes of production due to disruptions.”
Mr Kachere said between four and five thousand tonnes of the commodity were on the market.
He said players in the industry were trying to mitigate shortages by importing the commodity although financial constraints sometimes forced them to cancel orders.
“There are stocks of between six to seven thousand tonnes as we speak at the Beira port but we can only get them once we pay the money.
“We need about $4 million to get the consignment on that ship and we are busy looking for that money,” said Mr Kachere.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) operations manager Ms Theresa Makomva said the shortage was threatening national crop output.
She urged the government to quickly address the situation which she described as “dire”.
“Farmers are complaining that they cannot access AN on the market. It is only found on the informal market where prices are outrageous.
“Government should intervene as a matter of urgency. If we do not get the fertiliser in the next few weeks we are definitely going to miss projected crop output,” said Ms Makomva.
Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector is on the recovery path following years of contraction but real growth has been blighted by liquidity challenges and unreliable rainfall patterns. — New Ziana.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu