Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera
Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT has enacted sweeping reforms to the regulatory framework governing the livestock, dairy and stockfeed value chains with immediate effect, fulfilling a promise made by President Mnangagwa to reduce the high cost of production that has hampered the sector.
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The move will, inter alia, enhance the investment climate, encourage domestic production and attract foreign direct investment, as President Mnangagwa’s administration walks the talk on cutting costs and licences.
Already, a battery of changes has been announced in the transport sector, where licences have been reviewed in some instances by over 100 percent, in systematic reforms that will be introduced in every sector to curb predatory charges and fees that impede the ease of doing business.
In the latest raft of changes announced in the agriculture sector, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said Government was elevating efforts to retain agriculture as the mainstay and engine of the economy, cognisant of its crucial role in job creation, particularly for the rural population, where it supports 65 percent of livelihoods.
In a statement, Prof Ncube said the sector has been constrained by excessive regulations, high compliance costs and duplication of responsibilities across institutions.
He singled out the dairy sub-sector, where farmers needed 25 permits across 12 agencies; feed manufacturers (23 from 10 departments), beef cattle farmers (18 ), abattoirs (20) and dairy processors (21 licences).
Not only are these requirements time-consuming, but they also place heavy financial and administrative burdens on businesses.
Government has seen it fit to remove duplication, reduce costs and simplify compliance to promote efficiency, competitiveness and formalisation.
Among the highlights are farm and processor registration fees, such as the Agriculture Marketing Authority (AMA) farm registration fees, which were cut to a US$1 flat fee.
Previously, communal farmers paid US$1, small-scale irrigation farmers on US$2 while A1, A2 and large-scale farmers paid US$3, US$4 and US$5 respectively per year.
Farm Registration Certificates, which ranged from US$20 to US$200 per year, have been abolished for small-scale farmers, while medium and large-scale farmers will now pay a flat US$50.
“(The) fee is an unnecessary burden on small-scale farmers who can barely afford it. AMA only required farmers to be registered and should reduce the highly unjustifiable fees for medium and large-scale farmers to a flat fee of US$50,” Prof Ncube said.
The annexure to the press statement revealed that the following licences/permits have been cancelled and/or provided free of charge; AMA Livestock Development Levy, Environmental Management Authority (EMA) Effluent and Solid Waste Disposal fee, EMA Generator Levy, Livestock Movement Clearance (both RDC and Police), Bio Safety Permit, Borehole/Water Abstraction Cost, Water Use Fee, Health Certificate, Food Handler Health Certificate, Cattle Levy, RDC Dairy Permit, Consignment Based Conformity Assessment, AMA Feed Processor Registration Renewal and NBAZ Compliance.
“As regards Livestock Development Levy, AMA provides no service to the poultry industry and is not collecting it currently, hence it’s more of a theoretical levy whose scratching has no financial effect.
“EMA Effluent and Solid Waste Disposal fee and EMA Generator Levy should be removed and organic manure encouraged for production of organic food while farmers are being forced to use generators due to power shortages,” Prof Ncube said.
“The dairy processor registration fee has been reduced from US$350 annually to a one-time US$50 fee. Feed manufacturing registration has been cut from between US$150-US$250 to a US$20 flat fee.”
For livestock and movement permits, the minister said there was a need to abolish duplicate local authority permits, while livestock movement clearance was reduced to US$5 per herd (down from US$10 per beast).
As the country is on a drive to build its national livestock herd with superior breeds, Prof Ncube said: “Import permit for livestock genetics (heifers, bulls, semen) will be reduced from US$100 to US$20.”
To facilitate value addition, export registration for dairy products will be reduced from US$900 to US$10 while meat export registration will go down from US$500 to US$100 annually.
“An agricultural export permit will be reduced from US$70 to US$10 annually in harmonisation with ZimTrade,” the minister said.
Prof Ncube said under health and safety compliance, the local authority health certificate is cut from US$300 to US$100 annually, while the abattoir establishment fee would be reduced from US$350 to US$50 annually.
He said the veterinary abattoir registration fee would be capped at US$100 flat fee (down from US$600), as well as the scrapping of food handler health certificates.
“On environmental and utility costs, the EMA effluent and waste disposal fee for dairy farmers shall be reduced from US$800 to US$100 annually. The Environmental Impact Assessment Licence has been lowered from 1.5 percent of project value to 0.05 percent, capped at US$100 000 and payable during operations, not upfront,” Prof Ncube said.
He said the broader economic impact was that the measures were designed to lower the cost of doing business, especially for small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), while also encouraging investment and exports in high-potential value chains.
Prof Ncube said these would create jobs and stimulate rural development, improve competitiveness and formalisation across sectors.
Government remains committed to creating a modern, efficient and business-friendly regulatory system that drives inclusive economic growth and positions Zimbabwe as a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2030.
The World Bank’s ease of doing business index indicates how close a country’s policies and operations are to the best performance possible.
Some discrepancies and overinflated scores for countries in 2018, 2019 and 2020 led to the review of methodologies and cancellation of the index after 2020.
Meanwhile, farmers have welcomed the move taken by Government.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) secretary general, Mr Paul Zakariya, said the reforms, which reduce fees, abolish duplications and ease compliance, will bring much-needed relief to farmers, particularly smallholders who form the backbone of the sector.
“Lower costs for farm registration, livestock movement, abattoirs and environmental charges, together with the removal of levies such as the cattle and AMA development levies, will help unlock growth and competitiveness in these value chains,” he said.
Before this directive, dairy farmers were lamenting the lack of a one-stop shop within Government establishments, saying it was proving costly in compliance and negating the ease of doing business concept.
This came up at the recently held value chain review workshop hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Harare.
Dairy Processors Association of Zimbabwe secretary general, Mrs Tendayi Clementine Marecha, said import and export permits required in the dairy sector were too many and bureaucratic.
“Too many licences and permits from the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development and Health and Child Care, as well as the National Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe, Agricultural Marketing Authority and Veterinary Services are required and this can deter business.
“There is a need to establish a one one-stop shop where industry submits one application and gets all the necessary important licences and permits through the creation of an online system for ease of access,” said Mrs Marecha.
