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Reports in the media last week that the GMB had bought new conveyor machines, at a cost running into several millions of dollars when the people that make up the board’s constituency – farmers – have still not been paid for last season’s grain deliveries, smacks of sabotaging the farmer.
It was reported last week that the GMB had bought about 17 conveyor machines at a time the board owes farmers US$1,7 million for the maize they sold last season.
Talk of misplaced priorities, then we look no further than the GMB.
What has emerged clearly is that, contrary to its assertion that it has no money to pay farmers, the GMB is very much capable of paying farmers for how would one explain the purchase of conveyor machines by a board always blaming Treasury for not releasing money?
If the board can afford to buy the conveyor machines ahead of paying farmers, the same people whom the machines are supposed to serve, then surely there is something wrong with the board’s management.
For the machines to get work, farmers must first produce, otherwise in the absence of any deliveries, of what use would be the conveyor machines to the board, other than just be a waste of money.
There would have been nothing wrong in buying the machines if farmers had been paid what they are owed.
But to think the board would not prioritise the payment of farmers choosing instead to buy the conveyor machines, for us is a big statement indirectly advising farmers against growing and selling maize to the board.
We are very much aware that maize ceased to be a controlled product a couple of seasons ago but the GMB still retains the mandate for national food security through the Strategic Grain Reserve and should do everything possible to attract maize deliveries.
The GMB is competing with several players for maize and for it to be able to replenish the SGR, it needs to be always on top of the game by ensuring it pays farmers on time and that all outstanding dues are honoured before any other capital expenditure.
The Government and in particular, President Mugabe is on record urging farmers to productively use the land. Farmers have been playing their part in using the land to produce a variety of crops, among them maize.
While maize marketing has been opened up to other players, the GMB remains an attractive customer for farmers because it pays a bit higher per tonne of maize at US$285 compared to others paying between US$180 and US$200 per tonne.
Cash-strapped farmers end up selling to private buyers because they pay cash on the spot while the high paying GMB takes ages to pay the farmers for their toil.
We would understand it if the GMB’s inability to pay was based purely on their being cash-constrained but the developments of the past weeks clearly indicate that the board has the ability to pay farmers, only if it takes them seriously.
It is unfortunate the board has been left for quite some time now to take farmers for granted and we believe such attitudes must stop.
When farmers toil on the land, they do not do so for charity, so that the GMB sells their maize in order to buy conveyor machines instead of paying them.
Farmers work hard on the land so that at the end of the season they are rewarded for their toil through being paid. They have families to look after and to feed, they still want to continue with farming, something that is made impossible by the GMB.
We would have expected that all agencies, such as the GMB, whose operations are directly hinged on the land would support all efforts for the productive use of the land. One sure way that the board can anchor land reform is by prioritising paying of farmers ahead of anything.
We have been hearing the song of non-payment of farmers by the GMB for too long. We would wish a season passes by without these complaints.
We want to advise the GMB that when you are in business of selling and buying, priority must always be given to meeting the requirements of the contract you will have entered and in this case paying farmers for the maize deliveries.
That helps maintain trust between the buyer and the seller, which trust the GMB has long lost.
Very soon, farmers will start harvesting maize and other crops and we find it hard to think of anything that will motivate them into selling their crops to the GMB. Even if the price is a bit higher, farmers will easily consider the buyer paying cash on the spot than the GMB that prioritise buying conveyor machines instead of paying farmers.
We are not saying the conveyors are of no use, not at all but to put them to full use, the board must encourage farmers to continue producing and selling to them.
Once the board is awash with products, including maize, then the conveyor machines can be put to full use.
It must always be first things first and in this case the paying of farmers and then the buying of conveyors.
Online Reporter