Looking Back: Premier speaks on country’s farming prospects

The Rhodesia Herald, 

September 3 1949

WITH a European population of 115 500 and close on 2 000 000 others, Rhodesia needs more than anything else than increased production of animal products for food, said the Prime Minister, Sir Godfrey Huggins while opening the Bulawayo Agricultural Society’s 36th show.

With improved standards of living and higher wages, there is an ever increasing demand for more farm products, particularly food derived from animals. 

This increase in the local market is essentially for stabilising the farm industry.

The colony, said Sir Godfrey should be able to produce all beef, mutton and pork required by all sections of the community.

“We can also look forward to considerable increase in production from the native reserves and native areas,” said Sir Godfrey.

“A long term agricultural policy should not be contemplated for Rhodesia until more is known about the country’s farming conditions. I hope Sir Frank Engledow’s report will stop this political tag of a long term agricultural policy.

“Anyone who wants such a policy should go to a country several hundred years older than this one.”

Sir Godfrey congratulated those who had organised the show, adding it was one of the best he had seen.

LESSONS FOR TODAY 

 The agricultural shows organised by the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society are a platform where the minds and expertise of farmers, the public and private sectors and members of the general public meet to chart a successful agricultural industry.

 The agricultural value chain now requires robust policy formulation, supported by capital injection to ensure that the country not only achieves food security year-in, year-out, but also looks at agriculture as big business that earns the country the much-needed foreign currency.

 As the country’s population continues to grow, all hands should be on deck and farmers, including smallholder farmers should focus on quality productivity.