adminPermanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Mr Willard Manungo yesterday confirmed that Ministers Biti and Made were scheduled to meet today to discuss funding for the upcoming winter wheat farming season.
Recently, Minister Made raised concern over the failure by the Ministry of Finance to release funds for the payment of farmers.
He said the development had also affected banks’ relationship with farmers.
“Farmers have not yet been paid for deliveries they made last year and most of them had taken loans from banks.
“Banks now cannot continue releasing more funds when the first debts have not been settled,” said Minister Made.
He said fertilizer and seed companies were also owed money to the tune of $68m, something that was also making them reluctant to assist farmers and the Government.
“Of course the Finance Ministry has acknowledged that it owes farmers but it remains to be seen how it is going to address the situation,” said Minister Made.
“We hear that it has deposited money into Agribank but the farmers cannot access it.”
Minister Made also took a swipe at power utility Zesa for power disconnections that had left many farmers undecided whether to grow wheat or not.
“It is not the farmers alone but the entire industry that is at this point confused. No farmer would like to invest in a crop that dies midway through the season because it cannot be irrigated.
“Industry on the other hand has similarly become reluctant to support farmers because they do not see the future of the crop especially with Grain Marketing Board also not paying the farmers,” he said.
Zesa Holdings spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira, however, said power supplies were set to improve this season with the power utility devoting 50 megawatts to the programme.
“We have also increased the hours of uninterrupted supply from last season’s three hours to four hours for those farmers in clusters,” said Mr Gwasira.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union second vice president Mr Berean Mukwende said developments in the wheat industry needed urgent Government intervention.
“With banks only paying farmers for 10 percent of their delivered grain, the money is too little to fund serious winter planting, which means that farmers will just not plant or reduce the hectarages.
“Zesa’s promises cannot be trusted. They have said this many times but continued to disconnect the same farmers they now purport to be supporting.
“They should instead be talking of a settlement plan and not the extension of hours of uninterrupted power,” said Mr Mukwende.
Farmers and other stakeholders in the industry also argue that the low producer price has also contributed to the reluctance by farmers to grow wheat.
The current price is $466 per tonne, which most farmers say does not allow them to break even after selling the crop.
Online Reporter