AS preparations for the 2015/2016 summer cropping season intensify, the question is will the season be better than the previous ones?
Stakeholders continue to make efforts to ensure that the coming season will produce better yields.
Agriculture remains one of the major contributors to economic growth alongside mining and construction.
Given this background, Government, the major stakeholder of the sector is putting in place measures to ensure the sector continues to grow.
A myriad of challenges including limited financial support for crop production as most farmers lack collateral to borrow from banks as well as tight liquidity constraints have been cited as major drawbacks.
“In a bid to adopt strategies that improve and boost food production, and to ensure Food Nutrition Security, both at household and national levels, Government has secured US$98,6 million loan facility from Brazil under the More Food for Africa Programme,” President Mugabe told thousands of Zimbabweans gathered at the National Heroes Acre on Monday to commemorate Heroes Day.
“The loan is for the acquisition of new agriculture machinery and irrigation equipment, which is targeted at enhancing small holder farmers’ capacity to produce food crops.
“Because Zimbabwe is drought-prone, we should employ all strategies that help us to avert the consequences of drought and subsequently starvation.”
In the past, small and large-scale farmers benefitted from two phases of the Farm Mechanisation Programme implemented by the Government.
The loan facility from Brazil comes at a time when farmers were worried about limited access to funding for the coming season.
Hopes for successful seasons in the past have been shattered by the shifting seasons.
“On the other hand, the depressed growth resulting from the 2014/2015 agricultural season, underlines the importance of agriculture as the anchor of our economy,” President Mugabe said.
“There is need for drought proofing the economy in order to ameliorate the adverse effect of climate change.”
To show its continued commitment to ensuring the farmers are better prepared for the coming season, Treasury has released US$15 million to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) for payment to farmers still owed.
Government will also assist about 300 000 vulnerable households through input schemes at a cost of US$28 million.
For the coming season US$1,7 billion would be needed to fund the 2015/2016 agricultural season with the funds required for both crop and livestock production. Of the said amount, US$1,3 billion would go towards crop production.
President Mugabe urged the farmers to safeguard their farms and reiterated that Government was not backtracking on the Land Reform Programme.
Resettled farmers have come under fire from the Western countries and other organisations that sympathise with white commercial farmers who lost land during the Land Reform Programme.
The ‘new’ farmers have been labelled failures and inexperienced, but this has however, not deterred them as they have continued to put maximum effort on the farms.
Frantic efforts continue being made by Britain and its allies to reverse the Land Reform Programme that resulted in nearly 400 000 households benefitting as opposed to the 4 000 white farmers who previously owned the country’s prime land.
“Ndinoda kukutendai zvakare, ndichitendesesa kuuya kwamaita ndichiti shoko rekuzvisunungura ishoko guru,” said President Mugabe.
“Kuzvipira pabasa rakanaka, kuzvipira kuyamurana, kuzvipira kune vanotambudzika, kuzvipira kana zuva rasvika rekuti muzvidzivirire, muzvirwire, kana nyika yava kuda kutorwa zvekare, kuona kuti zviito pakati penyu nezvevamwe vari kupfekenyedza iye zvino vari kuda kudzoka kumapurazi nekune dzimwe nzvimbo, zviito izvozvo zvibva zvadziviswa zvisati zvaenda kure kure.
“Nekuti mukazviregerera zvinozova dambudziko guru.”
Meanwhile, President Mugabe said Government would be introducing a Rural Housing Loan Fund to help farmers improve their living conditions.
“The rural housing programmes have been resuscitated in order to improve rural living conditions,” he said.
“Government has started to produce house designs of typical rural model homesteads which can be accessed free of charge through the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
“Plans are already underway to introduce the Rural Housing Loan Fund that will provide affordable loans to communal, A1 and A2 farmers.”