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Input schemes leave farmers stranded

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THERE was a sigh of relief in the agriculture sector last June, four months before the 2014/2015 cropping season commenced, when a US$2,4 billion contract farming scheme was launched.
The scheme was launched by Lasch Enterprises Private Limited and ZANU PF Youth League under the banner The Joint Venture.
It targeted a minimum of 800 000 farmers.
The scheme was a welcome relief for farmers in dire need of assistance.
Players were calling on the private sector to assist farmers in the wake of a myriad of challenges that include limited financial support and lack of collateral to borrow from financial institutions.
Under the scheme, farmers would access inputs of a minimum of US$3 000 depending on the size of the farm.
Interested farmers were to pay US$36 joining fee, US$5 for an Agritex stamp among other amounts.
An overwhelming response was received as farmers responded to the call to join the scheme only to be surprised when the inputs were not availed when the cropping season commenced.
The management of the scheme was nowhere to be found to explain the continued delay in the disbursement of the inputs.
The delays affected many farmers’ production projections.
The Joint Venture scheme sadly is one of many so-called schemes to assist farmers that have not delivered and have not only affected producers, but the nation as well as seasonal production targets are not being met.
It is slowly becoming the norm that unscrupulous businesspeople take advantage of the challenges faced by resettled farmers to dupe them to earn ‘easy’ money out of their desperation.
This season again an organisation, the War Veterans Trust, launched a tractor scheme under which farmers paid US$50 and were promised tractors as the membership of the scheme grew.
This scheme also proved to be a hoax as farmers received nothing from the Trust.
But can Government assist these poor farmers that are being duped?
According to the Prosecutor General’s office, there is no law to protect duped members of the public from such schemes.
Economist, Elliot Lumbe said Government has to protect the farmers.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development should act in ensuring they instil a degree of discipline among would-be partners of the sector,” he said.
“These sad developments where farmers are being duped of their hard earned cash affect negatively on the operations of the farmers.
“Farmers expect to get inputs in time, but when they do not and when the rains come they are found wanting and this impacts on the yields.”
Government, Lumbe said, should rejuvenate the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) to avert future scams.
“Once the GMB is operating at full capacity we revert to the old system where farmers purchased inputs directly from the entity and sell produce there at the gazetted prices,” he said.
Farmers are not only being duped by being promised inputs but there is an influx of ‘middlemen’ who buy agriculture produce from the farmers at low prices than those prevailing on the market.
During the last marketing season, Government had to intervene in the wake of farmers who were being ripped off by private buyers who were buying maize at US$180 which was below the US$390 producer prices it had set.
Macheke-based farmer Wilfred Motsi said the bogus schemes were derailing the success of the Land Reform Programme.
“After a farmer has invested in the scheme and fails to get the promised inputs they fail to go back to the farm resulting in low yields,” he said.
“Government should put in place structures that will ensure that all these contractors and schemes are vetted and cleared before they are allowed to deal with the farmers.
“I also urge fellow farmers to scrutinise the deals offered by these private players first and get the necessary information before signing for, or joining any scheme.”
Motsi said farmers should also do market research to know the prices of produce before engaging private buyers.
With efforts being made to increase production in the agriculture sector, it is hoped stringent measures will be put in place to protect the farmers.

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