IN our previous episode of this discussion on the human factor challenge in sustaining agricultural productivity, we used the model of a drum to represent agriculture.
We said the drum has a porous bottom through which agricultural investments can be lost through leakage. The porous bottom of the agricultural productivity drum is made up of the human factor content of the following people involved in agricultural production: the farmers, workers, bankers, input suppliers, contractors, union leaders, service providers, statutory support institutions and Government functionaries.
We said that the bottom can and does leak because it is porous. The pore size is directly related to the knowledge, efficiency, diligence and commitment of the various actors (human factor content) making up the bottom to deliver on the agricultural production mandate. Less knowledge and experience leads to greater pore sizes and greater leakages or inefficiencies; the converse is also true.
Into this huge agriculture drum are poured all the various resources that we call agricultural investments. These include but are not limited to finances, technical services, equipment, inputs and labour. The system is supposed to efficiently use these resources to effect profitable production. Failure by various actors to efficiently carry out their various mandates results in losses (leakages).
The money that is invested in agriculture leaks through the porous bottom. Agricultural investments are lost or retained depending on the human factor content of the players in the field.
Readers may remember our earlier adage: ‘mari hairime, chinorima vanhu!’
We have argued before that to ensure sustainable agricultural productivity and food security, we must invest as a country in programmes to improve the human factor content of all the players in the agricultural industry. It is the quality of people, as reflected in their services, that determines the productivity of the agricultural system.
In this episode we shall start to look at some of the actors (human factor content) in the agricultural value chain to see how their activities impact on agricultural productivity.
In an earlier article in this series I made reference to a visit by farmers’ union representatives to the Israeli embassy in Harare where the Jewish envoy surprised them by insisting that Zimbabweans appear to have a ‘secret for poverty’.
Despite abundant water, good soils and climate, Zimbabwe still suffers, unnecessarily, drought-related food deficits, the ambassador pointed out. It is as if there is a deliberate/calculated effort to not use available resources to eliminate food insecurity and general poverty. The intimation points to human factor content failure on our part to plan, mobilise available resources and implement strategies that solve our perennial food shortages.
One wonders if we have developed a culture of begging for food (kusunza). In African culture, it is shameful to be seen begging all the time; it is a sign of human factor content decay.
Our so-called educated elites in the agricultural field are missing in action in terms of working with farmers and other stakeholders to solve current food security problems.
University academics (and the author is one of them) must move beyond the comfort zones of teaching, conducting research projects and publishing papers in scholarly journals that the public has no access to. They must lock horns with the nation’s agricultural challenges and make practical knowledge available to ordinary Zimbabweans in the villages.
Why would Government have to invite foreign professors to train local farmers when the nation spends large sums of money employing academics in our local institutions? Or is the human factor content of our locals considered inferior?
Government needs to deploy local agricultural experts in colleges and universities to tackle the food security and other challenges facing the nation. If these experts are considered unsuitable then the university curricula churning out academic degree qualifications must be revised to address any anomalies.
The agricultural sciences being taught in the lecture rooms and laboratories must be closely related to the agricultural challenges facing Zimbabwe. Otherwise who are we producing those graduates for? Therein lies the need to tie all training to the development of correct human factor content.
Can human factor content decay be used to explain Zimbabwe’s apparent inability to tackle its food challenges despite possessing the largest volume of impounded (dammed) water in sub-Saharan Africa?The question begs urgent debate and attention as another great drought looms.
So according to our porous (drum) bottom model, failure to plan and implement drought-mitigation strategies such as irrigation technologies, has become a leakage point for agricultural investments as witnessed by widespread drought-related crop failure amidst plenty of water. This is another aspect of the human factor challenge facing agriculture.
In 2012, I applied for an agricultural support loan for inputs and working capital at a local bank.
Sometime in late November I was advised that my papers had been misplaced; could I fill in a fresh lot. I did that. Despite numerous polite reminders and enquiries, Christmas and New Year came and passed with no decision on the application.
About mid-January, I received a letter dated 12th January advising me to visit the bank to sign the papers for the summer cropping inputs support loan. By this time most farmers were busy weeding.
I would have to start planting mid-January. The late planting would mean reduced yields and subsequent failure to service the loan. I declined the loan.
Did the bank officers processing the application have any appreciation of the tight timelines farmers have to contend with to fit operations into the cropping season?
Were they aware of the negative impact of late planting on crop yields? Or was disbursing the loan all that mattered?
A few weeks back, I arrived Friday afternoon to collect my inputs at one supplier’s premises only to be told to come back on Monday; they would finish loading my materials after official closing time.
They were not prepared to lose their time. I lost a whole three days of ideal moisture for planting.
There was no appreciation of the need for timely operations in planting crops. Again by dismissing me for coming late to collect inputs, the company representative was missing the bigger picture: that we must increase agricultural productivity. I am pleased to report that at another fertiliser company, they loaded late into the night and the precious material was at the farm the next morning!
You would expect the agricultural industry to agree to make special dispensations to accommodate farmers to ensure that planting is effected as timely as possible.
With the current low rainfall scenario such delays can be devastating on overall national productivity. While many do go out of their way to assist farmers meet time lines dictated by crop growth cycles, others would not care less!
In all cases the above are examples of human factor challenges that result in reduced efficiency in agricultural production.
The late bank loan offer cited earlier is a case of human factor content failure that impacts on agricultural productivity. Agri-business personnel in various banks need to receive training on practical realities of crop growth and development and the importance of timely disbursements of funds for inputs.
Many are appreciative of the need but others are content to disburse at whatever time!
It is not enough to cite that the farmer applied late. Loan applications should be declined if the farmer is unlikely to put in the crop in time to obtain reasonable harvests, other things being equal.
The risk is not only to the farmer who might fail to repay the loan, but to his family who might lose a home should the bank decide to sell the property offered as security.
The bank also becomes saddled with a non-performing loan and ultimately the country loses in terms of lost crop production.
As we have said before, ‘mari hairime, chinorima vanhu!’
In the next episode we shall continue to examine the human factor content of other players in the agricultural value chain to see how it affects the systems’ capacity to provide food on a sustained basis. The struggle for food security continues!