Online Reporter
Last year, the Government promulgated Statutory Instrument (SI) 87 of 2025, compelling local millers, stockfeed manufacturers and food processors to source at least 40 percent of their grain and oilseed requirements from local farmers starting April 1, 2026. The threshold is expected to gradually rise to 100 percent by April 2028. The regulations have been welcomed by local farmers, who say the move will strengthen domestic production, which has already been on an upward trajectory in recent seasons. Our Reporter THESEUS SHAMBARE spoke to MR TICHAONA MAPFOCHE, chairperson of the Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) 200ha+ Club, a specialised grouping of more than 500 large-scale commercial farmers who manage at least 200 hectares of land each. He described the policy as a critical step towards enhancing national food security, reducing imports and accelerating agricultural industrialisation.
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Q: Last year, the Government promulgated Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025 which compels local millers, stockfeed manufacturers and food processors to source a percentage of their grain needs from local producers. What does this policy mean for the future of local agriculture?
A: Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025 comes at a time when Zimbabwe’s own production data is increasingly demonstrating that domestic agriculture can sustain national demand if properly supported.
According to the latest Second Round Crop, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment (CLAFA 2) report, total cereal production for the 2025/2026 season is expected at approximately 2,74 million tonnes, while cereals already retained in farmer stocks from the previous season amount to approximately 136 902 tonnes, bringing total cereal availability close to 2,88 million tonnes nationally.
Under all consumption scenarios assessed, Zimbabwe records a projected cereal surplus ranging between 551 000 tonnes and 965 000 tonnes. These figures fundamentally change the policy conversation.
SI 87, therefore, becomes less about restricting imports and more about preserving production confidence. When local production reaches surplus potential, the rational economic response is to build domestic markets, support local procurement and use imports strategically rather than structurally. At the same time, South Africa also provides an important cautionary lesson in wheat production, for example.
Where domestic production support is weakened, dependency also increases.
South Africa currently imports approximately half of its wheat requirements annually. Current estimates suggest domestic production supplies approximately 54 to 58 percent of national wheat requirements, while imports remain in the range of 1,74 million tonnes to 1,83 million tonnes annually.
Analysts note that South Africa previously produced approximately 88 percent of domestic wheat requirements but experienced a structural decline in self-sufficiency over time.
The lesson is straightforward: Once productive capacity weakens, rebuilding domestic agriculture becomes expensive and lengthy.
This is why we are emphasising more on maintaining confidence in local grain production to break this chain.
Q: How significant is this policy for farmers who have long struggled with market uncertainty?
A: This reform is welcomed by the farmers because agriculture responds to market certainty. As farmers under the SGR 200ha+ Club, we are willing to enter into strategic partnerships with processors and millers to guarantee quality grains.
There is scope to expand irrigable land from the current 256 000 hectares (ha) to 496 000ha if the offtake market is guaranteed.
So, many dams and fertile agricultural land are underutilised due to uncertainty and unsustainable market circumstances that make the cost of production impossible to break even. The mercantile exchange control system will, however, help provide a predictable market price. Statistics from last season clearly show that the country is not operating from scarcity but from growing productive capability.
Maize production increased from approximately 2,29 million tonnes to 2,35 million tonnes, while traditional grains are estimated to reach approximately 390 272 tonnes. Soya bean production recorded one of the strongest performances, increasing by 129 percent from approximately 41 919 tonnes to 96 129 tonnes.
These production gains did not happen by accident. Farmers make investment decisions months before harvest, yet historically, they have often entered the season without certainty that local grain would be prioritised.
Farmers invested because they expected markets. When processors commit to domestic procurement, that confidence expands.
Farmers increase planted area, banks improve financing confidence and producers begin making multi-season investment.
That confidence effect is powerful.
Our club currently represents more than 500 producers and targets expansion to over 1 000 farmers by 2030, contributing 210 000ha producing approximately 1,1 million tonnes of maize and sorghum, together with 600 000 tonnes of wheat.
Those targets become realistic when markets become predictable.
Q: Critics may argue that restricting imports could affect competitiveness or lead to higher prices. Why do you believe local procurement is still the right direction for Zimbabwe at this stage?
A: The debate should move beyond short-term pricing and focus on long-term competitiveness. Zimbabwe is already showing that production growth responds to deliberate policy support. Agriculture grew by approximately 5 percent overall during the assessment period.
Import dependence often appears cheaper because many hidden wider economic costs are excluded, which include transport, freight, exchange rate exposure, employment leakage and foregone domestic investment. If Zimbabwe consistently relies on importation of grain that it has demonstrated the ability to produce locally, it weakens the very productive systems needed to lower future costs. The route to competitiveness is not permanent importation but the scale of production. The objective is not permanent insulation from trade, but to use the market support to build scale, and the scale will eventually reduce production costs.
That is how most successful agricultural economies developed.
Over-dependence on imports exposes the country to external geopolitical vulnerabilities. This is a security risk which must be addressed through a deliberate strengthening of the domestic value chain capacitation.
A case in point is the tobacco industry that has surpassed all records due to the certainty of the market. The same framework can be applied to cereals to exceed domestic demand.
Q: Zimbabwe has made notable gains in wheat production in recent years. In your view, can the same success now be replicated in maize, sorghum and oilseed production through interventions such as these regulations?
A: Absolutely!
Wheat self-sufficiency and surplus was achieved under less than optimal conditions. Imagine what happens when appropriate funding structures for maize and the market align — the maize production boost will be inevitable. The current trends suggest that replication is already beginning.
The strongest signal from the just-ended summer season is not maize growth alone; it is diversification. The traditional grains reached approximately 390 000 tonnes while soya beans grew by 129 percent.
Also, at the same time, input trends show that their distribution is becoming increasingly climate-responsive. Sorghum seed distributed increased by 45 percent while pearl millet seed support rose by 147 percent.
This shows that Zimbabwe is gradually aligning crop systems with agro-ecological realities rather than relying exclusively on conventional cereal patterns.
The wheat story demonstrated that when Government, irrigation infrastructure, financing and guaranteed markets align, production responds. Our position is that we should increasingly produce the raw materials that drive our own agro-processing sector.
Q: Your organisation has ambitions to expand to more than 1 000 farmers by 2030 while producing over a million tonnes annually. What practical steps are needed to achieve those targets?
A: Our target of producing approximately 1,1 million tonnes of maize and sorghum annually and 600 000 tonnes of wheat remains achievable if five fundamentals continue. First, accelerated irrigation expansion. The national irrigation development reports indicate that we are currently at 256 598ha, an increase of 85 000ha since 2019. However, this is still below the pace required to reach 496 000ha by 2030.
It is important to note that 82 percent of newly developed irrigation since 2020 has come from private investment.
The bulk of the new irrigation systems is coming from young farmers who are very ambitious. Second, long-term financing aligned to production cycles.
The current financing models favour already established farmers.
We, therefore, advocate for local financiers to build confidence in these young black farmers with favourable interest rates and terms. Third, structured off-take agreements.
Confidence is built when one knows that every seed I have dropped into the soil has someone waiting for the output.
If major players trust our farmers and continue contracting them, we are sure that the targets will be met. Currently, we are relying on Government guarantees, which is okay, but requires private players’ support for the farmers to keep on adding the hectarage.
Fourth, stronger mechanisation and aggregation systems. For more hectares to keep on coming, there is need for more modern aggregation facilities close to the farmers.
Of course, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has a stronger supply chain, but it is far from the farmers.
There is need for commercial scale dryers at all GMB depots as these will guarantee a reduction in the prohibitive drying costs for private players. Thanks to Government for the initiative of the new AI silos which are being installed across the country. These will offer convenience to farmers as they get a one-stop shop for drying, storage and marketing of grains. Mechanisation, on the other hand, reduces production time. As farmers, we are grateful for the Government’s support under various mechanisation schemes such as the Belarus, John Deere and More Food facilities. These have helped farmers a lot. Fifth, farmer capability development.
The hub-and-spoke production model which we have adopted is specifically designed to transfer scale efficiencies and technical support from established producers to emerging producers. Production targets are not achieved by acreage expansion alone, but through yield growth and production efficiency.
Q: We believe the SGR 200ha+ Club also works with emerging farmers under a hub-and-spoke mentorship model. How will policies that prioritise local grain procurement benefit smaller and emerging producers?
A: Local procurement converts smallholder participation into commercial production.
The 2025/2026 CLAFA 2 report indicated that cereal stocks retained by farmers exceeded 136 000 tonnes nationally. This demonstrates that production capability exists beyond traditional commercial producers. Our hub-and-spoke model is built around aggregation. When processors prioritise domestic grain, emerging farmers become part of formal supply systems and gain incentives to scale. When procurement becomes local first, emerging
producers become commercially relevant. This supports rural incomes, job creation and broad-based agricultural participation.
Q: Beyond food security, the Government says SI 87 is also about import substitution and saving foreign currency. How important is agriculture in driving Zimbabwe’s broader economic industrialisation agenda?
A: The agriculture sector is Zimbabwe’s largest domestic industrial platform; this is where the production cycle starts from.
Agriculture supplies raw materials into manufacturing, transport, logistics, finance, energy and retail. Every tonne produced locally creates activity across multiple sectors. Look at what has happened when the tobacco sector decentralised the marketing to the provinces.
Import substitution is not isolation, but it is a domestic value retention strategy.
If grain, oilseeds and downstream products are increasingly produced locally, more capital circulates within Zimbabwe and stimulates industrial growth.
Agriculture can actually help generate foreign currency due to exports of both raw and value-added products.
This can be achieved when economies of scale drive down production costs and achieve regional price parity.
We have the best climate in SADC (Southern African Development Community) to reclaim breadbasket status again.
Increasingly, farmers will move into various value chains and ecosystems that attract new investors and technology, thereby increasing efficiency and yields profitability
Q: Zimbabwe still imports significant quantities of edible oil and oilseed products despite having land and capacity to grow the raw materials locally. What opportunities exist for farmers and investors?
A: The oilseeds sub-sector is one of Zimbabwe’s strongest import substitution opportunities.
Soya bean output increased by 129 percent last summer season.
That is not a mere agricultural statistic but it is an industrial signal.
Every additional tonne of soya beans and sunflower supports crushing, edible oils, stockfeed and manufacturing.
The opportunity is no longer only production, it is value addition.
Investment opportunities exist in contract farming, irrigation, crushing plants, storage and value addition.
Instead of importing finished products and semi-finished products like crude soya bean oil, Zimbabwe can increasingly industrialise around domestic raw material production.
Q: Some processors have raised concerns over consistency of supply and quality when sourcing locally. What assurances can local farmers provide?
A: Industry’s concerns are legitimate and must be addressed.
If you observe the production trends, especially on irrigated crops, they provide the assurance.
The ability to produce cereal surpluses under all consumption scenarios, especially as witnessed in wheat, has the potential to create the opportunity to move from seasonal procurement towards structured annual supply arrangements.
Farmers are prepared to support traceability, storage standards and quality compliance, but markets must reward consistency.
We should note that agriculture reliability improves when markets become stable and it is built through partnership.
Long-term procurement contracts encourage investment in storage, grading and production systems.
Developing our seed varieties is fundamental.
If the value chain is weakened, the market will be infiltrated by poor quality and foreign players, which can compromise standards.
Supporting and capacitating the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) will guarantee desired standards.
We should build trust in our local regulatory bodies.
Q: What role should the Government, banks, contractors and the private sector play?
A: The Government should maintain policy certainty.
Banks should develop agriculture-specific financing products that support farmers at concessional rates.
Examples of such facilities include the BADEA (Arab Bank for Economic Development) Facility, the AFDB-FAO Seed Revolving Facility and other blended finance facilities which are at concessional rates.
The BADEA Facility had an interest rate of 4 percent per annum and the AFDB Seed Revolving Facility has an interest of 5 percent per annum.
Currently, working capital facilities are accessible at high interest rates of 18 to 25 percent per annum for US dollar loans and are not friendly for agricultural businesses.
Interest rates for ZiG-denominated loans are between 30 and 50 percent per annum.
These interest rates make food security crops unviable to produce on borrowed capital.
The Government has tried to intervene through the ARDA JV scheme, which provides inputs on credit.
However, the scheme does not cover other working capital items such as wages, utilities and logistics costs.
Crop contractors should fully support production and productivity.
The major contractors should be more inclusive and also support emerging young farmers.
Private sector actors should commit to long-term procurement arrangements that guarantee offtake for strategic and food security crops.
The Government is trying its best to create a favourable policy environment for all players to achieve desired results towards food security.
The recent policy measures to realign grain import regulations sits well with local grain producers who are protected in that regard.
Q: What would success look like for SI 87 over the next three to five years?
A: Success would mean stronger local procurement ratios, expanded irrigation coverage, reduced import dependence, stronger farmer profitability, improved reserve stocks and greater agricultural industrialisation.
Success would also mean lower production costs achieved through scale rather than through import substitution.
Agriculture is the anchor and backbone of the manufacturing industry.
Reviving and strengthening agriculture and its value chain inevitably triggers GDP (gross domestic product) growth across the entire economic spectrum.
We are looking too far for solutions to our economic challenges, when in fact we should be inward looking.
SI 87 already provides the answers, addressing critical issues across the agricultural value chain.
Once fully adopted, industries such as fertiliser, agro chemicals, seed, mechanisation, irrigation, drones, restaurants, transport, value addition, rural industrialisation, fuel, technology, finance and more will begin to thrive.
