By Professor Sheunesu Mpepereki

AS we move into the new cropping season, farmers and ordinary citizens must be wondering what is in store for us.
Already time is running out.
Government has made indications that resources will be mobilised to enable farmers to produce adequate food for the nation.
The challenge facing Zimbabwe right now is to mobilise and deploy financial and physical input resources on the ground.
Intense negotiations are underway among the various parties including Government, input suppliers and banks.
And the skies are threatening to open up!
Varimi vaita manyoka!
Several key questions are taxing farmers’ minds.
Are the requisite funds available?
If available, is there enough time for farmers to file their applications and for these to be assessed by banks so that funds can be released?
What of collateral requirements?
Most banks require applicants to surrender title deeds to properties such as residential houses.
The traditional banks used to serve relatively wealthy white farmers who were able to satisfy collateral requirements.
The over 400 000 new farmers are mostly peasants and their working class off-spring, are recent arrivals in town, so to speak.
The land allocated is their most potent means of producing wealth.
A few banks will accept livestock and agricultural equipment as collateral for agricultural loans.
For many of these new farmers the danger of being impoverished through loss of property pledged as collateral is real.
A major challenge for most of the ‘new’ farmers is lack of skills and expertise in producing the various crops.
Many of the farmers are in fact professionals who visit their farms at weekends; some call themselves cell-phone farmers.
The real danger comes in situations where the ‘blind’ are leading the ‘blind’. How does that come about?
The farmer has no experience of agriculture.
The so-called manager resident at the farm is often an unemployed relative, uncle, nephew or brother brought in from kumusha the communal area home.
The farmer’s cell-phone calls do not provide expert guidance to the manager at the farm, neither is the manager’s feedback any more useful to the farmer who nevertheless is busy applying for an agricultural loan from the bank.
Productivity will be less than optimum; add to that a loan to be repaid from proceeds of farm production.
Some contract farming documents require the applicant to indicate the minimum qualifications of the farm manager.
In reality many banks and contractors do not care to check on the competence level of the farm employees.
Often, these ‘new’ farm managers and supervisors have limited experience let alone expertise in running an agricultural enterprise where margins must support loan repayments.
Why not engage the experienced former workers on white farms?
Many of them have adopted a negative attitude to say they will not work for people who took their former bosses farms!
A few have acquired pieces of land and are applying their skills especially in tobacco production.
Until recently many of these former workers who continue to reside on former white farmers’ compounds refused to work for the new black farmers.
When offered plots during the Land Reform Programme, most farm workers refused fearing trouble from the former white boss whose return they considered to be imminent.
To be found tilling ‘muzungu’s fields!
‘Unefa!’
They have continued to hope for the return of ‘muzungu’ the former white farmers.
The point is: we must train and develop a new breed of farm workers.
The level of skills and knowledge among both new farmers and their workers are relatively low and need to be raised as a matter of urgency.
So what are the chances that yields will reach the levels that will allow the servicing of the loan at marketing time?
Very few!
It is the challenge for ensuring Zimbabwe’s food and nutrition security.
The solution to fill the agricultural skills gap lies in Zimbabwe investing in a robust, practical training and technical support programmes for farmers and farm workers on a continual basis.
Such training must be integrated; both AGRITEX as the extension agency and universities and colleges of agriculture must come together in a comprehensive national programme to upgrade the skills of farmers and their workers.
Why not allocate researchers and academics in agriculture farms where they can translate theory and research methods into practical production models that will quickly feed into the national production system?
The first commercial settlement programme in 1994 targeted agricultural graduates.
In a conversation back in 2005, Mr Graham, a white farmer in Raffingora emphasised to me the need for continuous farmer education and support.
He pointed out that war veterans of the Second World War given land by their government in London as a ‘thank you’ were also given support in terms of training and technical advisory support.
He said that without that support most of the white farmers would have abandoned agriculture.
Similarly, our own farmers need all the support that Government can muster. These are now the front line soldiers of the ‘Third Chimurenga’.
The private sector must chip in, the same way ordinary citizens supported the comrades during the war.
Some have mistakenly called for support to exclude A2 farmers who are supposed to fend for themselves!
Farmers need support if we are to ensure food and nutrition security!
Farmers need time to organise the logistics of purchasing and transporting inputs to the farms.
Come on Zimbabwe!
We need to be more organised.
Munorasika papi maDzimbabwe!
Late disbursement and distribution of agricultural inputs must be a thing of the past
Let us pledge our diamonds and other minerals to mobilise financial resources for agriculture.
Failure is not an option!
Food security is national security; we cannot afford to sleep at the guard post! As Comrade Nyagumbo ‘Museyamwa’ said: “We must be with the people!”
Kumunda this time!