Vibrant policy vital for agric sector’s productivity

Most families in rural areas, which constitute approximately 60 percent of the population, are supported by incomes from this sector.
But, unfortunately, the sector has long suffered from a drought of funding.
Poor performance of the agricultural sector has led to stagnant growth in the manufacturing sector. Obviously, this has a ripple effect on employment.
In the past 10 years, there was a sustainable increase in unemployment as both agriculture and manufacturing sectors contracted.
The impact of poor performance of the agricultural sector has effects on inflation, as yields per unit are very low. For instance, maize farmers are producing 1,2 tonnes per hectare against potential of 8 tonnes or more.
The throughput that goes into the value chain in the economy goes in at a higher cost and this is one of the fundamental
reasons for the existing inflationary pressures.
Secondly, because farmers are producing below national requirements, the country has to supplement the deficit with imports. Most of imports come from South Africa.
The rand has been depreciating of late due to the contagion effect of the eurozone crisis. The depreciation of the rand coupled with the fact that world food prices are on the rise has led to imported inflation.
It is therefore vital that Zimbabwe comes up with a vibrant agricultural policy, which should seek to raise agricultural productivity.
Measures to rehabilitate the sector should be centred upon how to unlock finance for the sector. The sector requires about US$2 billion per year to operate optimally and bring back the previous glory.
The US$2 billion is about 50 percent of Zimbabwe’s National Budget. What it means is that Government alone has no capacity to fund agriculture. The financial sector has to support agriculture.
Prior to independence, the banking sector had been bankrolling agriculture not because all the farmers had collateral but decisions were made on business and viability grounds.
However, Government should also provide bankable instruments for farmers in the form of title deeds to expedite farmers’ accessibility to bank loans. Development of infrastructure such as roads which makes farming areas accessible, dams and irrigation to mitigate droughts and storage facilities is critical if viability and productivity is to be enhanced.
Capacity building for farmers is also critical if the land is going to be used productively.
These training programmes should be centred around marketing and pricing issues, farming techniques and post-harvest crop management, among other issues.