By Professor Sheunesu Mpepereki and Engineer Raymond Munyaradzi Nazare

LISTENING to farmer representatives from various provinces of Zimbabwe presenting review reports at the Command Agriculture Review Workshop held on June 7 2017, at Harare International Conference Centre, I could not help but appreciate their critical and central role in our agricultural system.
Farmers are the hub of our agricultural system, itself conceived as a wheel with spokes, each linking to one aspect or another.
If there is no hub, there is no wheel. Put another way: No farmers, no agriculture; no agriculture, no food; no food, no people and no economy!
Ominous! Exaggerated some will argue!
No, just common sense but there is little common appreciation of that fact among Zimbabwean technocrats who often think that money and equipment are central to agriculture and forget to look after farmers.
The farmer representatives outlined challenges they encountered; some suggested solutions. As agricultural scientists, teachers and researchers, we could tell the farmers faced many hurdles, some of which could be tackled through administrative means but others that required technical training and advisory support.
We could see a niche for agricultural experts working in institutions of higher learning to chip in to complement public and private sector technocrats in the provision of technical support services to farmers.
Here we share with readers our thoughts on how the agricultural system works and how farmers can be capacitated to effectively undertake the central mandate in the agricultural system.
The success of Command Agriculture programmes will depend on a number of key factors, the most critical of which is farmer competitiveness.
Farmer competitiveness is the pivot around which the whole agricultural value chain revolves. In this episode of our discussions on Command Agriculture, we shall attempt to explain the nature and central importance of farmer competitiveness.
Farmers who are competitive in relation to production costs per tonne and can produce on significant scale and are therefore profitable, are key to driving input and service providers by demanding and being able to pay for their products/services as well as ensuring that downstream value chain actors are also competitive in the markets they supply.
To be competitive, farmers need to be technically competent. They must possess the skills and knowledge to produce the highest yields possible with least expenditure of resources.
Like a football team, farmers require the close attention of technical advisors in the form of extension and other agricultural experts who bring in the requisite technologies and expertise to plan and execute farm operations. This is the only way to ensure high yields from high inputs.
Crop production models developed by the University of Zimbabwe
The University of Zimbabwe has created crop production models which generate competitive agricultural enterprises which are the key to sustaining the agricultural value chains. Competitive production models are the key to attracting and sustaining investment in the sector which allows Zimbabwe to scale out agricultural production.
These crop production models are most appropriate for scaling up productivity under the Command Agriculture Programme. They are applicable to both crop and livestock enterprises.
The University of Zimbabwe is willing and able to work in collaboration with other institutions of higher learning and Government departments to strengthen the provision of technical support services to agricultural value chain actors, including frontline producers, the farmers.
Financial support
These agricultural production models now need financial support to accomplish the following:
l Create widespread awareness among farmers, value chain actors, potential investors and policy makers (training and technical advisory support services equals development),
l Sustain further investigations (research and development) to ensure Zimbabwe sustains its competitiveness and
l Transfer knowledge, skills and competencies (technical support) to farmers and extension agents through appropriate training programmes on specific farming enterprises; maize, soya, small grains, livestock etc.
The Proposal
We note that:
l There were numerous technical challenges listed by farmer representatives at the Command Agriculture Review Workshop that reflected limited knowledge and technical capacity to handle tillage, planting, fertiliser and chemical application, pest and disease control, harvesting, drying and storage of produce;
l National average yields per hectare for cereals (maize, small grains etc) are extremely low, barely exceeding 1 ton/ha national average despite high yielding varieties planted and plenty of rains (2016/17);
l Sustainability of the Command Agriculture Programme is threatened by the technical challenges faced by farmers and the low sub-economic yields per hectare.
In light of the above, we hereby propose the following:
l That priority be given to the provision of technical support services and training to farmers and extension personnel to ensure that financial and other resources being mobilised are utilised for sustainable, efficient and profitable production at farm level;
l That appropriate motorised mechanisation systems for tillage, planting and harvesting be prioritised with focus on servicing all categories of farmers (communal, A1, A2 and large scale) as the country moves into all-year round large-volume commercial production of crops with tight rotation cycles (maize, wheat, soya etc). The current challenge in drying maize crops to clear lands for wheat is a case in point.
l That University of Zimbabwe and other tertiary institutions with requisite agricultural knowledge, skills and experience be mobilised to complement AGRITEX and other stakeholders in the provision of the said technical support including the crop production models referred to above. The educational institutions can be assigned to work with farming communities within their regions to minimise expenses. Involvement of agricultural academics and students will finally break the ‘ivory tower’ syndrome in Zimbabwe where students emerge with degrees but are unfamiliar with the real life agricultural scene in the country. A similar scheme of deploying college students in rural areas was conducted by the then Ministry of Education as ‘Teacher in Rural Areas’ (TIRA). Future farmers and hands-on technocrats are likely to be inspired from such a programme. Farmer confidence will be boosted and Government will be seen to be actively empowering both farmers and the youths.
l That Colleges of Agriculture be capacitated to provide relevant up to date practical science-based training through provision of adequate training facilities including the allocation of the latest equipment and technologies being imported for farmers so that the graduates can provide competent sustainable technical support to the agricultural industry.
l That the technical training, which should also target women and youths, extend to the operation, repair and maintenance of farm equipment, large quantities of which lie idle on farms for lack of basic skills in repair and maintenance thereby seriously compromising timely operations like tillage and planting and pesticide application. Such a programme will include recruitment of skilled and semi-skilled former employees at large-scale previously white-owned farms to help in training and mentoring youths in equipment operation, repair and maintenance.
l That part of the funding mobilised for the Command Agriculture programme must be deliberately and specifically targeted towards a well-structured technical and advisory support programme for farmers and extension officers. Such a programme would draw expertise from universities and colleges, AGRITEX and private sector specialists. Short-term training workshops and refresher courses should be used to gradually empower farmers. This is critical for the sustainability of the programme. Monitoring and evaluation must continue as separate activities that so far have been ably discharged by various Government functionaries. Reliable data should be collected and properly analysed so that Government and other stakeholders make sound evidence-based decisions.
l That an appropriate operating framework be developed for the proposed initiative to harmonise the collaborative efforts of educational institutions and other Government and private sector actors as part of efforts to strengthen the Command Agriculture Initiative for a sustainable economic turnaround.