THE Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has elected Retired Major Credit Nyathi as its new president while conferring outgoing leader Silas Hungwe the status of Honorary President.
The elections were held this week in Masvingo during the board’s 74th elective congress.
At least 400 delegates attended the two-day congress and unanimously voted for Rtd Major Nyathi to stir Zimbabwe’s largest Farmers Union for the next five years.
The outgoing president Hungwe chose not to contest.
The ZFU has been led by Hungwe since 1992 and during his tenure he oversaw the growth of the union which now has more than one million members.
In his acceptance speech, Rtd Major Nyathi hailed the outgoing president as a dedicated cadre who was committed to transforming the agriculture sector as part of rebuilding the country’s economy.
He said he would urgently attend to the myriad challenges besetting farmers in Zimbabwe.
“In my new portfolio, I will listen intently to the advice of Mr Hungwe, as he has demonstrated success and dedicated the greater part of his life to champion and advance the interests of indigene Zimbabwean farmers,” said Rtd Major Nyathi.
The congress came at a time when preparations for the 2014/2015 summer cropping season that began on September 1 gather momentum.
Concerted stakeholder effort is required considering the challenges that continue to haunt the agricultural sector.
In the 2013 mid-term national budget, the Ministry of Finance revised agricultural growth downwards from 6, 4 to 5, 4 percent this year.
The downward revision was as a result of economic stagnation the country experienced in the first half following under performance of key sectors of the economy emanating from the continued existence of illegal sanctions imposed by the West.
Rtd Major Nyathi encouraged farmers to ramp up their average yields per hector to boost productivity while improving quality of their crops during the current farming season.
“In line with the goals of ZFU competitiveness, farmers should now be mindful that they can only increase their income if they maximise their average yields per hectare,” he said.
“But the component of quality cannot be ignored as well.”
Prior to his elevation to the union’s top post, retired major Nyathi served as the board’s first vice president.
Rtd Major Nyathi, who sits on the Agricultural Marketing Authority Board, is credited for transforming Zimbabwe National Army farms in Masvingo into productive enterprises, before his retirement from the force.
Berean Mukwende who until the elections was ZFU’s second vice-president was elected as the board’s first vice president.
Mukwende said the union would complement Government efforts to revive the economy through increasing agricultural production.
“The new government has given agriculture prominence as evidenced by the agriculture ministry which has two deputies to oversee the livestock and crop sectors,” he said.
“This shows that Government has the political will to support agriculture by addressing the challenges being faced by farmers.”
Phillip Mauta, a successful sugarcane farmer was voted second vice-president.
Prior to his election Mauta served as Masvingo’s ZFU provincial chairperson.
Outgoing president and now ZFU’s first honorary president, Hungwe implored the new leadership to prioritise farmers’ plight during its tenure.
“As you assume leadership, remember that you are chosen to be servants of the farmers,” said Hungwe.
“So be ready and patient to listen to the advice of farmers.”
The ZFU elective congress was held under the theme, ‘Synergies for Agricultural Competitiveness’.
Various Cabinet ministers, industrialists and players in the agriculture sector converged in Masvingo to attend the two day congress.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Pardy Zhanda officially opened the congress held at the Charles Austin theatre.
Outside the polls the congress sought to explore ways of improving agricultural competitiveness.
Delegates highlighted the need to nurture sound synergies for agriculture to meaningfully contribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The ZFU was born on August 19 1992 following the merger of Zimbabwe National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and National Farmers Association of Zimbabwe (NFAZ).
The ZNFU was formed back in the mid-30s as the then Bantu Farmers Union before it was later named African Farmers Union in 1941 and the then Zimbabwe National Farmers Union in 1980.
The NFAZ was formed in 1981 emerging from the Master Farmers Association which had existed in the then Victoria province now Masvingo since the 1969s.
The ZFU is now the largest farmers’ interest organisation that draws its membership from sub sectors such as communal, resettlement, small scale commercial, peri-urban plot holders, emergent and large scale commercial farmers.
Agriculture is key to the country’s economy and it is the second largest foreign currency earner after mining, accounting for 21 percent of exports in the first half of the year.