Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera, Agriculture Specialist Writer
THE Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX) have entered into a partnership to provide warehouse receipt system (WRS) services to eligible farmers as the 2025 marketing season intensifies.
This comes as the Government has pronounced the system to be used in the marketing of crops this season to achieve both food and nutrition security and macroeconomic stability.
This season, self-financed farmers will sell to their best advantage on the market or to the GMB, with the latter providing commercial warehouse receipt services to all players.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka said the Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX) would “provide a central warehouse receipt system and a spot market trading platform for agricultural commodities.”
According to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion’s 2025 Budget Strategy Paper, “Government will promote the use of the ZMX in the marketing of agriculture produce, to enhance farmer income and reduce post-harvest losses.
In this regard, the GMB will be focusing only on procuring grain for the strategic grain reserve (SGR), with the rest of the produce being sold to private players through the ZMX.”
The paper further states: “Broadening market options for farmers reduces fiscal burden and over-reliance on the GMB.
This will allow market access for farmers, price discovery and convenient trading of agricultural commodities.”
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) enhanced the use of warehouse receipts as collateral security by granting them liquid asset status.
Granting liquid asset status means the warehouse receipt is recognised as easily and quickly convertible into cash without losing value.
This allows the warehouse receipt to be used as a form of payment or traded, just like cash or other liquid tools.
GMB is providing 10 warehouse facilities that have been certified as warehouse operators on the ZMX platform.
Self-financed farmers and other producers who are not part of the Presidential Input Scheme (PIP) and Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) scheme can utilise the ZMX-operated WRS and spot market, supported by GMB as one of the warehouse operators.
The warehouse receipt serves as both a security and a financial instrument, allowing farmers to either sell their grain immediately at the ZMX auction or use it as collateral to access credit facilities.
Farmers can also use the receipt to purchase inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and agro-chemicals.
ZMX chief executive, Mr Collen Tapfumaneyi, said they were ready for the 2025 agricultural marketing season and were working with financiers in the banking, insurance and pension fund industries to ensure sufficient liquidity to support commodity trading.
“With liquidity having been a major hindrance to trading activities, ZMX is working with financiers in the banking, insurance and pension fund industries to ensure there is sufficient liquidity to support commodity trading,” he said.
“This will ensure farmers are paid expeditiously while buyers such as agro-processors will be capacitated to offtake the commodities to their maximum requirements,” he added.
The Government authorised the trade of soyabeans on ZMX as part of a trial scheme to liquidate the remaining 2022 harvest. Maize weekly auction was introduced in 2023, and 93 tonnes of crop worth US$24 050 went under the hammer.
Wheat weekly auctions were also added in 2023. Convergence of wheat bid and offer prices resulted in buyers purchasing all the crop that farmers offered at U$420 per tonne at the second week of trade on the platform.
Farmers offered 156,28 tonnes of wheat at an average price of US$420 per tonne, valued at US$65 637,60. All the bids were successful.
