Farmers present framework for agricultural recovery

Zimbabwe's major farmer unions have called on the government and business sector to establish an agricultural export retention scheme to act as a reserve of foreign currency to procure inputs at the beginning of each farming season. The recommendation was one of seven major policy initiatives presented to the parliamentary portfolio committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water Development, Rural Resources and Resettlement last week by the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) and the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU). Observers have forecast another poor 2003-04 farming season due to the acute shortage of inputs, including seeds, fertiliser and farming implements. In their presentation the ZFU said the export retention scheme would cater for the foreign currency requirements of the input supply sector to ensure availability, "thereby containing both the food security problems and economic problems facing the nation". The CFU called on the government to provide "easy and ready" access to foreign currency, to escape the present situation where suppliers of inputs were sourcing foreign currency from the parallel market, thereby fuelling inflation. "Particularly, inputs where shortages are being experienced include fertiliser, crop and livestock chemicals, seeds, fuel, mechanical and equipment spare parts. Access to sufficient foreign exchange is not the only problem being faced by input suppliers, as manufacturers and suppliers are forced to source foreign currency in the black market at exorbitant rates that drive input prices up and threaten the viability of producing most commodities," the CFU said. The CFU also warned that the introduction of price controls could threaten the long-term survival of the input production sector. "Introducing price controls to meet populist objectives, without considering the complex [production] process, is detrimental to the long-term availability of quality planting seed of any type," the organisation said. The ZFU has also called for a commodity development strategy that will cover maize, cotton, tobacco, horticulture, livestock, wheat, soybeans groundnuts and small grains. "Over the past four seasons, production has either remained static or declined due to a number of factors beyond the control of general farmers. Any recovery plan should focus on the production of these commodities, which have declined by an average of 20 percent over the past years," said the ZFU. Maize harvests decreased from a total of 2,148 mt in 1999-2000 to 499 mt in the 2001-02 season. The cotton harvest fell from 353 mt in 1999-2000 to 228 mt in 2001-2002, while other major commodities producers have also recorded sharp declines in output since 2000. The government's fast-track land reform programme and drought has been blamed for the downturn in production. The ZFU has also called for a review of existing bank policies governing access to loans by farmers, to accommodate the newly resettled who have been provided with land under the fast-track programme. "Despite the introduction of government-supported agro-bills, farmers continue to experience problems in being accommodated in the current agricultural financing systems. Government should put in place a guarantee mechanism for access by farmers, banks should consider farm leases as collateral, and they should also consider other loan security options like movable assets," the ZFU said. In view of the recurrent droughts in Zimbabwe, the ZFU has also suggested that the government set up an expanded special irrigation finance scheme for new farmers, with tax concession incentives to the private sector to promote support for irrigation. "Significant investment has been made in the construction of dams across the country. However, the bulk of this water remains under-utilised due to the limited capacity of indigenous farmers to invest in irrigation facilities. The union recommends that stock be taken of all existing under-utilised water sources, with a view to embarking on an irrigation development drive to result in full utilisation of available water," the ZFU said.