Provision of cheap inputs vital for farming sector

farmers should be the tonic that farmers needed the prediction of normal rainfall for the 2011/12 season.
The unveiling of the input scheme lends credence to the importance Government attaches to the agriculture sector. There is little that farmers can do in the absence of affordable inputs even with the

Meteorological Services Department forecasting normal to above rainfall.
We thus want to commend the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Joseph Made for executing part of his mandate to ensure farmers have the inputs to take advantage of the good season just around the corner.

However, what remains of major concern to us is whether or not the money to buy the inputs has been released to the ministry and if it has been released, have the inputs been bought and are they already available on the market or selected points for farmers to buy.
It is indeed one thing simply to unveil a scheme and another ensuring availability of the inputs on the ground.

We have had in the past officials rushing to the Press to announce ideas in their heads yet the situation turns completely different on the ground.
This is the time for farmers to be buying their inputs and we believe an announcement should immediately be followed by some kind of movement or action.
There is no time for any delays now and what farmers want are the cheap inputs to help them plan on their hectarages.

The rains can fall any time and farmers do not want to be caught unawares and start scrounging for inputs when they should actually be tending to a thriving crop in the field.
The minister conceded that the US$45 million fell short of meeting national inputs requirements and pinned his hopes on an extra US$35 million that the Ministry of Finance owes farmers.
Minister Made’s unveiling of the scheme is testimony of his commitment to ensuring national food security as no farmer would fail to produce in a season where the rainfall is good and cheap inputs are made available in time.

We are aware that Minister Made may have very good ideas to turnaround the agriculture sector but such ideas can remain as such if the purse holder does not share the same view.
It is our hope that the Minister of Finance Tendai Biti plays ball by making sure he meets his side of the bargain. He holds the purse and we hope he also attaches greater importance to the agricultural sector as the rest of the people do.

Once the Ministry of Finance releases the money as soon as possible, we see no reason why farmers should fail to flourish this season.
Having said this, we must say past experience has taught us about the unfairness of such schemes in that the majority of the people that are supposed to benefit end up on the losing side, as the well-connected stockpile their warehouses with the inputs.

We thus appeal to the Government and the minister in particular to put mechanisms that ensure the target group benefits from the scheme. It would really be sad to have only the “chefs” easily accessing the inputs at the expense of communal and smallscale farmers.
We would expect big farmers who have made it in the business to buy their own inputs and not wait for Government schemes.

The resource-poor farmers should always be the biggest beneficiaries of government programmes. That is the fastest way of growing our agriculture. There have been reports lately that out of the thousands of farmers who sold their maize to the Grain Marketing Board, only the “chefs” have not had any problems being paid their money, leaving the poor farmers struggling.
These reports, if true, make very sad reading and one would expect that farmers are served on first come, first served basis without looking at the names of the seller. We hope this kind of behaviour is not replicated when it comes to the inputs scheme.

It is a known fact that supporting communal and smallscale farmers guarantees food security.
These are the group of farmers that have always produced the bulk of the maize for the country even during the time when national maize production reached 2,1 million tonnes. They would account for almost 80 percent of total production.

So as we hail the unveiling of the scheme, we appeal for fairness and transparency in the handling of the inputs. Let every farmer who qualifies, as outlined by Minister Made, be given the chance to buy the cheap inputs without having to pay a bribe to officials.
Let those farmers who do not necessarily require inputs from the scheme buy their own from other sources and leave the scheme for the needy.