aurora
Martin Kadzere
Crop diversification is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing uncertainties in incomes among small-scale farmers.
In Africa, where the majority of the population lives in rural areas and largely depends on farming, crop diversification provides a greater impact on socio-economic set up of rural economies.
With crop failures on rise due to the adverse effects of climate change, crop diversification also provides a backup support on household’s food security status, safeguard livelihoods, diversify incomes as well as encouraging off-rainy season production.
Amid uncertainty over threats by anti-tobacco campaigners seeking a ban on smoking, Zimbabwe is now focusing on crop diversification to insulate farmers from potential loss of livelihoods. The new thrust will help farmers diversify revenue streams.
Production of tobacco, largely grown by small holder farmers in Zimbabwe remain under threat from the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention of Tobacco Control, a treat which seeks to reduce global smoking.
The framework associates tobacco with detrimental effects on the environment and human health.
The uncertainty, however, provides opportunities for production of alternative economically viable crops such as macadamia, hemp, castor seeds and groundnuts.
Zimbabwe’s land reform, which started around 2000 saw thousands of rural households taking up tobacco production, previously a preserve of white commercial farmers.
Last year, nearly 150 000 farmers were registered to grow tobacco, almost twice than a decade ago. Alongside cotton, tobacco, also referred locally as the “green gold” is the most grown cash crop in Zimbabwe and the second single largest foreign currency earner after gold.
According to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement will start focusing on production of alternative crops to tobacco to boost incomes for rural households.
“This will be implemented by existing Government programmes such as Presidential Inputs Schemes and Command Agriculture to support production of alternative crops such as industrial hemp, castor seed and macadamia nuts,” according to the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan approved by the Cabinet recently.
“The project will develop and implement an agriculture diversification plan to cultivate commercial food and alternative crop to tobacco.
“TIMB (the Tobacco Industry and Regulatory Board) will educate tobacco farmers and non-tobacco farmers on the agricultural tobacco plan.”
Analysts say while the push for reducing smoking was still at a campaign level, preparing for uncertainties was “critical”.
Besides potential uncertainties that could arise from global cigarettes ban, crop diversification provides scope for spreading risks among different crops.
Viable approach
“It is the best approach. It means that we are being futuristic. Health issues remain a global priority and we don’t want our farmers to be left exposed,” Dr Midway Bhunu, agricultural economist said.
“The most important aspect is the implementation of the programme. It should not be done randomly,” Dr Bhunu added.
“Issues to do with markets have to be dealt with and it will be an opportunity to unlock investment from the private sector which help financing the farmers and also being off takers of the produce.
“In addition, the delivery of extension services, training programmes meant to equip farmers with knowledge of growing alternative crops and the selection of crops that can be suitable substitutions for tobacco in term of forex generation and employment creation is important. Horticulture can be considered from export perspective.”
Some economists say diversification of economically viable crops would help Zimbabwe achieve an inclusive upper middle-income nations by 2030.
“Apart from cotton and tobacco, most rural farmers produce maize and vegetables in a tiny gardens for the consumption,” Carlos Tadya, an analyst with a local research firm said.
Grouping rural farmers could help enhancing their competitiveness, some development economists have suggested. The farmer cluster approach could be one of the key strategies that could be deployed as part of a comprehensive set of policy interventions to drive their competitiveness.
Bongani Ndlovu