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GOVERNMENT needs to consider disposing of some prime assets of the Cold Storage Company to set up a fund and commission charged with development, driving productivity and attracting foreign investment into agriculture, a local investment promotion firm has said.
The fund which will be administered by the agricultural development commission, would, among other functions, subsidise cost drivers in agriculture and its value chain, carry out farm audits and delimitations, compensate displaced farmers for capital improvements and set up an agricultural commodities exchange.
Further, the fund and the commission would be responsible for financing the Grain Marketing Board to pay farmers in time and setting up a fertiliser manufacturer to make the fertiliser available cheaply while exporting the excess.
Investment promotion company, Invest Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Ton Chirango in an interview said agriculture is the fastest, easiest and cheapest tool to stimulate and sustain long term exponential economic growth in Zimbabwe.
“In my view, we should consider disposing of some of these (CSC) assets, regardless of whether they are operational or not, profitable or loss making and use the resultant receipts to convene an Agricultural Development Fund, administered by the Agricultural Development Commission,” Mr Chirango said.
Mr Chirango said it is easy to attract international funding and technical expertise from other countries for well thought out initiatives and agriculture has the potential.
This was achievable, he said, provided competent and visionary people are identified and given the latitude to develop policies, craft strategies and implement programmes anchored on and underpinned by far reaching reforms.
The assertion is based on the fact that agriculture remains the mainstay of the economy although its contribution has significantly declined over the past few decades.
Before it went on a downward spiral agriculture contributed 18 percent of GDP, was the biggest employer, contributing 41 percent of foreign currency earnings and provided raw material for 60 percent of manufacturing industries.
Revitalising agriculture is fundamental to sustainable economic growth patterns in view of the fact economic growth is much linked to performance of agriculture.
Admittedly, as President Mugabe alluded to recently that growth is linked to the rate of droughts, it is imperative to develop and deploy robust intervention mechanisms such as extensive development of massive irrigation systems.
Online Reporter