The Sunday Mail
Dr John Basera
Part 2
THE Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is seized with speeding up mechanisation programmes (importation of farm machinery and equipment) in order to mechanise and modernise the agriculture sector by increasing the tillage and combining capacities by approximately 300 000 hectares and 200 000 hectares, respectively.
Several flagship mechanisation programmes to name just four (Belarus phase 1, Belarus phase 2, John Deere Facility, Bain/BancABC Mechanisation Facility) were consummated and are being rolled out to upscale mechanisation levels in the sector targeting A1 and A2 farmers.
These programmes are administered through banks namely, CBZ, AFC, Ecobank, Stanbic and BancABC who on-lend the equipment to farmers on an end-user pay basis over periods ranging from two to five years.
The Government created two agricultural equipment leasing companies namely AFC Leasing Company and an Agricultural Leasing vehicle through ARDA. These institutions were capitalised with equipment worth over US $22 million to hire out mechanisation services to farmers at affordable rates.
The sector aims to get to a point where a farmer doesn’t necessarily need to own sophisticated and expensive equipment, but the services must be readily and affordably available.
A Smallholder Mechanisation Development Alliance (SMDA) was created aiming to mechanise the smallholder sector and over 600 lead farming households are initially targeted in the first pilot phase through AFC and its partners in the alliance.
Mechanisation services are fundamental in improving agricultural production efficiencies and productivity levels which are key active ingredients in the Agricultural Transformation process.
Pfumvudza/Intwasa Initiative
The Climate-proofed Presidential Input Support programme targeted to climate proof the smallholder food production sub-sector. Countrywide adoption of conservation agriculture principles and tenets is being witnessed in minimum soil disturbance to maintain the soil structure, mulching as well as religious adoption of crop rotations.
The programme aims to inculcate a new culture of producing ‘more for less and more on less’ and seeks to transition smallholder farmers from subsistence farming to commercial smallholder farming, and hence it is a Vision 2030 Accelerator Programme as it seeks to upscale value creation and incomes at household level targeting over three million households in the 2022/23 summer season up from 2, 3 million in its first year of implementation in 2020.
The programme in its first year of implementation contributed 41 percent to total maize production in the 2020/21 season, which saw the country breaking maize production records to reach 2 717 171 metric tonnes (MT) and over 350 000 MT of traditional grains.
Total grain output reached over three million MT against a national annual requirement of 2, 2 million MT, leaving a surplus of over 800 000 MT for the first time in many years. National average maize productivity grew sharply from 0, 5 tonnes per hectare in the 2019/20 season to 1, 4 tonnes per ha in the 2020/21 season, mainly because of the religious implementation of these flagship programmes.
National Enhanced Agricultural Productivity Scheme (NEAPS)
One of the cross-cutting imperatives in the NDS1 is crowding-in the participation of the private sector in the key and strategic sectors of the economy, agriculture included.
The NEAPS is a Government facilitated and financial services sector funded scheme which supports and contracts A1 and A2 farmers on over 200 000 ha of strategic commercial crops such as maize, wheat, soybean and traditional grains for import substitution.
During the 2020/21 season the NEAPS contributed to over 30 percent to the total maize output. The flagship programme also saw wheat production increasing from about 100 000t in 2019 to 212 000t in 2020 to over 330 000t in 2021 against a national annual requirement of over 360 000t.
This 2022 winter wheat season, the country is aiming to attain wheat self-sufficiency at any cost by targeting 75 000 ha (over 380 000ha at 5T/ha) through various initiatives that are mainly private-sector led.
Over the past three winter seasons, private sector participation has been increasing from 8 000 ha in 2020 to 16 000 ha in 2021. The private sector is targeting over 23 000 ha of wheat this 2022 winter season through the Food Crops Contractors Association (FCCA) which is a syndicate of private millers, processors and commodity contract farming companies.
The expectation is to have agriculture financing led by the private sector including banks and commodity contractors. This incredible appetite by the private sector to support local production is a testimony to Governments clarion call to encourage and persuade users of agricultural commodities to fund production of at least 40 percent of their respective annual agricultural raw material requirements.
Joint venture framework for optimised land utilisation
The Government approved the Agricultural Joint Venture Framework which is a matchmaking platform between landowners and investors and is key to harnessing the God-given advantages (land and water resources) into economic and financial advantages at farm hold levels.
To date, the Ministry has approved close to 2 000 JVs, which translates to over 150 000 ha since 2020.
It is a requirement that all JVs must be registered and approved by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development with the aim to safeguard the gains of the land reform programme, to protect the land holder, the investor and the investments.
A joint venture database for the purposes of match-making available under-utilised and unproductive land units with investors is being developed.
Partnerships
Sixty-seven percent of Zimbabweans reside in rural areas, hence, pro-poor inclusive development programmes are invaluable in laying the necessary foundation for Zimbabwe to achieve its commitments under the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Ministry is directly and indirectly responsible for SDG1 (No Poverty), SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG13 (Climate Action), SDG14 (Life under water) and guided by SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
The Second Republic’s efforts in international engagement and re-engagement with a view to cooperate and collaborate for the achievement of SDGs enabled forging of partnerships with development partners to address some of the challenges imposed on us by climate change effects and variabilities.
The partnerships led to the rolling out of Small Irrigation Revitalisation Programme (SIRP) co-supported by IFAD and the Government of Zimbabwe, UNDP Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund, Green Climate Fund Project titled “Building Climate Resilience to Agriculture Livelihoods in Southern Zimbabwe”, Zimbabwe Agriculture Growth Programme.
Further, pipeline partnership initiatives include Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project, Resilience Agriculture Cluster Project, supported by IFAD among many.
SIRP will climate- proof 6 100 ha through irrigation development and rehabilitation whilst GCF project will develop, equip and rehabilitate 1 450 ha of irrigable land.
The Ministry has also partnered with other organisations and nations including FAO, Kuwait and other line Ministries in light of the Whole of Government Approach in driving its mandate to feed the nation, develop and transform rural livelihoods for rural development.
All these initiatives are meant to transform the sector in a manner that builds capacity to withstand the vagaries of nature and more importantly focused on smallholder farmers (youth and women in particular) under the banner of leaving no one behind as pronounced and enunciated in His Excellency, the President’s Vision 2030 and in the Africa Agenda 2063.
Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Projects
A critical subsector with huge potential for economic and livelihoods impact is farmed fish. Necessary legal instruments are being developed to harmonise fisheries and aquaculture development in the country.
A five-year Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Plan was produced and awaits necessary express approval by Cabinet.
The Presidential Community Fisheries scheme was officially launched at Muchekeranwa Dam by His Excellency President Mnangagwa in 2021.
The programme seeks to address household nutrition and income generation, as well as promoting commercial fish cage culture. At present, 300 dams are targeted for stocking in 2022 for the communities.
A further, 1200 dams have been identified for stocking by the year 2025.
Additionally, the Ministry is pursuing a Cluster Village Integrated Farming Hubs (Jinjika Model).
This model is riding on the presidential blitz borehole drilling programme, where over 25 000 of solar powered boreholes are being targeted by year 2025.
The established farming hubs are expected to benefit over 50 households. The model farming hub will have four components namely: a village nutrition/income garden with drip irrigation, a village orchard, fishponds, piped water scheme, grading and storage sheds as well as a free ranch poultry run.
Mainstreaming of Women and Youths
All Ministry programmes encapsulate a deliberate goal of empowering youth and women, more importantly to tap and exploit the demographic dividend where youth and women comprise 62 percent and 52 percent of the population respectively.
As such, most of the programmes are subscribed by these cohorts and upon reflection, 54 percent of women benefited from the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme while all provincial centres of excellence are 100 percent constituted by youths, the beneficiaries of the land are allocated by the President for sole use as youth agricultural innovation hubs. Youth and women empowerment permeates all the objects underpinning NDS1.
Extension delivery support system
The whole transformation agenda is anchored on a responsive Extension Delivery Support System that aspires to achieve increased mobility, appropriate training and equipping with digital technologies for effective technical backstopping and coaching of farmers with special emphasis on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and inculcation of the ‘farming as a business’ culture.
This helps to ensure climate change adaptation, boost productivity, food security; household value creation and promote agriculture as an engine of pro-poor and inclusive economic growth and ultimately consolidate the gains of the Land Reform Programme.
President Mnangagwa sourced over 6 000 motorbikes and to date, over 5 000 have been delivered and distributed to Veterinary and Agritex officers. Over 6 000 tablets were procured and distributed to extension staff. A robust extension services provision system is a prerequisite ingredient in the Agriculture Transformation jigsaw.
The agricultural sector is crossing an inflexion point and taking centre stage in the attainment of Vision 2030 objectives and imperatives.
The sectoral blueprints and programmes are anchored on the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy that is strongly aligned to the National Development Strategy 1.
The aim is to transform the sector from a US $5, 8 billion Agriculture economy as of 2020 to US$ 8, 2 billion by 2025, contributing at least 20 percent to National Gross Domestic Product by that year.
In 2021, the sector grew by over 36 percent to US$8, 1 billion.
One year later the sector has achieved what was envisaged to be attained in five years and the sector is poised for more growth as we roll out the pro-rural agricultural initiatives.
If we get our agriculture right, then we are on the right track to get everything else right including and ultimately the Vision 2030 imperatives which entail leaving no-one behind, no place behind, no demography behind, no village, ward, district and province behind in light of devolution, whilst leaving no stone unturned.
◆ Dr John Basera is Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.
