Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Government has said it is setting up modalities that will ensure production of local sunflower is prioritised as an import substitution measure as the country has been spending approximately US$300 million on cooking oil sunflower imports.
The development will also ensure that the country is able to make more stock feed from sunflower meal which is one of the major protein sources in livestock feed, especially dairy cattle, chickens and even pigs and rabbits. It has a high protein, fibre and oil content.
Speaking to communal farmers at Ndiweni Dam in Ward 21, Bulilima District, Matabeleland South Province on Friday, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka the money being lost importing cooking oil sunflower could be channeled to farmers keen to do sunflower production locally.
“The country is losing US$300 million importing cook oil sunflower which you see in the shops here. So instead of getting that money and paying South African farmers we want to pay you. Its US$300 million that we want to pay people in the rural areas if you produce sunflower and then you take it to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB),” he said.
“At GMB in the future, we then do the oil expression plant. We are not going to be sending the cooking oil to Harare, it’s done at a local level so that the price comes down.”
The Minister said once the country is able to do more sunflower, it means there will be stock feed which is also critical.
He said this will cut down on livestock movement as farmers try to look for grazing land as they will now be having sunflower meal in their areas.
Sunflower is now seen as a major source of present and future vegetable oil needs, with most small-scale farmers able to boost production significantly if given more inputs.
Zimbabwe produces only a little more than half its oil seed needs, and sunflower is now seen as one of the fastest ways to accelerate production to meet national requirements and then boost exports.
According to the Ministry’s Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) Senior Management weekly report for the 2023/24 agricultural season, the country is targeting 160 000 hectares of sunflower, 25 000 from Manicaland, 24 000 from Masvingo, 23 000 from Midlands and 20 000 from Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central respectively.
While, the target from Mashonaland East is 19 995 hectares and 14 000 hectares from Matabeleland North and South respectively. The target for Harare was five hectares and for Bulawayo it has not been ascertained as yet.
Of the targeted 160 000 hectares, 31 250 will be under Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme, 3 000 and 2 000 financed by CBZ and AFC respectively, 40 000 by the private sector and 83 750 self-financed bringing the total to about 150 000 metric tonnes to be harvested.
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