THE potential of any industrial development is largely linked to the relative abundance of raw materials.
And that is the case of Zimbabwe and many other developing countries.
Zimbabwe has vast resources ranging from land to minerals and the country’s broadly based manufacturing sector produces in excess of 6 000 products or commodities ranging from food and clothing to fertilisers and chemicals, metal products of all kinds, electrical machinery and equipment as well as motor vehicle assembly.
Sixty percent of the manufacturers depend on agriculture for raw materials or as a market for inputs.
Hence the agro-processing industry can be regarded as the sunrise sector of the Zimbabwean economy in view of its large potential for growth and likely socio-economic impact, especially in employment and income generation.
Prior to colonisation, blacks were exceptional farmers.
They had their methods of agriculture and guaranteed bumper harvests every agricultural season.
They grew a variety of crops such as sorghum, millet and mupunga (brown rice).
These crops formed the staple diet.
Cultivation was as oftentimes carried out in communal groups in a practise called nhimbe.
Grains were harvested and stored in granaries for future us.
Agro-processing existed in the form of pounding (kutswa), grinding (kukuya) and food preservatives methods such as curing (kuwomesa), drying (kufusha), caching (kupfimbika) and fermenting (kuvira).
The indigenous knowledge systems were equal to those later on brought by whites.
Following colonisation, indigenous knowledge systems were suppressed.
Blacks were confined to reserves infested with tsetse flies.
They produced very little or nothing at all.
This went on for 90 years.
But the country later on repossessed the land as over 400 000 black households benefitted from the Land Reform Programme.
Fast forward 16 years later, black farmers have been deemed failures by some sectors who are comparing them to former white farmers.
But they forget, black farmers have no access to unlimited loans from international banks like Barclays and Standard Chartered that supported white farmers extensively.
Of the US$10 billion the country owes to multi-lateral institutions, about a billion of it stems from the defaulted loans by white farmers.
More so, most black farmers have little access to ready markets.
Farmers are producing, but most industries are importing the same products being imported by farmers.
In fact, the latest data released by Zimbabwe Statistics (ZimStat) are worrying.
According to ZimStat, from January to May this year, the country imported agricultural products worth over US$220 million.
The country imported maize worth US$97,37million, wheat (US$36,8 million) and oil cake (US$22,8 million).
Bulk rice imports amounted to US$26,01 million and soya bean flour and mealie meal imports were US$4,68 million.
The country also imported apples worth US$1,7 million and grapes (US$1,4 million), while the fruit and veggie list also included items which are readily produced like tomatoes at US$293 000, carrots (US$232 490), lettuce (US$2 477), peas (US$620 213), beans (US$768 075) and lemons at US$100 408.
Yes, the country spent more than US$100 000 importing lemons!
One would be forced to ask, what then is Zimbabwe producing on its 15, 9 million hectares of arable land?
The country has abundant raw materials ranging from oranges in Mazowe, tomatoes and vegetables in Mutoko, fish in Kariba, sugarcane in Triangle and mangoes as well as guavas in Mudzi.
In Gokwe there is cotton, while tobacco is grown throughout the country and is transported to auction floors mostly for export to Western countries for processing.
What are agro-processing industries processing if margarine worth US$2,16 million was also brought into the country, cane sugar at US$9,8 million, chewing gum at US$576 041, with mixed condiments and seasoning at nearly US$5 million?
Are farmers failing to meet the demand of local industries?
But year-in year-out there are reports of rotting agricultural produce at Mbare Musika in Harare and Emkambo koBulawayo.
Are these farmers over-producing?
Why then is the country importing lemons, grapes, tomatoes and peas among other fruits and veggies?
Is it because most agro-processing industries are multinational conglomerates who are not keen in supporting local farmers?
These companies argue local produce is expensive compared to cheap genetically modified organism (GMO) imports from South Africa.
How then can Zimbabwe industry be vibrant when in five months the country has spent US$2 billion on imports that can be produced locally?
Agriculture has been the economy’s backbone for decades, contributing 15 to 18 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
It contributes over 40 percent of national export earnings.
However, of late, local agro-processing companies have become redundant because of the importation of cheap processed imports.
The demise created a supply gap which foreign firms did not hesitate to seize.
In recent months, the rise of Chinese products on the local market has pushed out local manufacturers, resulting in the dwindling of the workforce to 1 600 from a peak of 16 000.
Low agricultural production experienced in the last few years worsened the situation.
To address this challenge, in January this year, Government introduced a 15 percent Value-Added Tax (VAT) on nearly 40 imported basic goods to facilitate the recovery of ailing local food processing and manufacturing industries.
The move also applied to goods used or are consumed for agricultural purposes.
The Statutory Instrument listed products falling in more than three dozen tax categories that lost their zero-rated status in terms of VAT, include maize meal, flour, rice, cooking oil, potatoes, margarine, eggs and several varieties of fruits and vegetables.
According to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), local food processing companies have registered a recovery on production levels since the repealing of the clauses in January 2016.
The CZI said some local manufacturing firms are responding positively, noting an increase in capacity utilisation in bakeries, beverages, cooking oil manufacturers, dairy and poultry processing companies.
To revitalise local industry, four months later Government further imposed an import restriction on potato crisps, cereals and dairy products.
Now that Government has intervened and put in a protectionist policy, it is all up to the agricultural sector to perform and meet demand for agro-industries.
As increased demand for agricultural products is envisaged, there is need to have proportionate improvement in the agriculture sector.
Experts have repeatedly pointed to the need to revitalise the agriculture sector as the backbone of a striving manufacturing industry.
According to the World Bank, Zimbabwe has vast arable land with about 15,9 million hectares available for agricultural purposes.
The El Nino phenomenon has indeed adversely affected production in Zimbabwe and other countries in the region.
However, strategies to counter this have to be devised and implemented.
The country cannot fixate on environmental factors which it cannot control, but should rather find instruction from it by assessing alternatives.
In the absence of irrigation schemes development, most farmers have failed to move from subsistence to commercial farming where higher yields are realised.
There is need to expand efforts in irrigation development and rehabilitation.
Infrastructure in the form of roads, machinery as well as equipment and post-harvest handling facilities should be made accessible to farmers as part of the agricultural recovery process.
Zimbabwe has great potential to reclaim its status as the bread-basket of Southern Africa.