The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has rallied farmers to boost productivity and maximise their output per hectare so the country can meet growing local and global demand for food, born out of obtaining global value chain disruptions.
In this week’s instalment for this paper, the President said there was need for thorough introspection on current productivity levels by local farmers.
“We have to be hard on ourselves by minutely focusing on the entire agricultural production continuum: from preparing for the season right up to delivery to depots. It is no longer sufficient to revel in positive aggregate output, both at micro- and at macro-levels. We must be more rigorous with ourselves, indeed to use a more onerous set of performance measurements.”
The President said farmers should capitalise on the positive forecast of a normal-to above-normal rainy season.
“This is a massive fillip given the mixed season we had previously, and also against the backdrop of the searing drought which has hit many parts in the subcontinents of Europe, Asia and Latin America. Then we have the conflict in Eastern Europe which has gravely affected global food supply. Never has the situation been so dire worldwide, which is why we should make the best of our auspicious circumstances,” said President Mnangagwa.
The global market was short of agricultural commodities hence Zimbabwe needed to rise to the occasion and play its part.
“With severe droughts related to climate change, the global agricultural commodity supply situation is likely to get worse in the foreseeable future before it gets better. With so much agricultural land on our Continent, Africa’s time has come. Zimbabwe must be a key part of this African Agricultural Century, which is at the core of the Continental Agenda 2063. I am happy our Economy is moving with speed to make the necessary supportive investments, including in the production of more fertilisers,” said President Mnangagwa.
Going forward, President Mnangagwa said strategic decisions would be taken on crops grown and their potential benefit to the country as export products.
“The time may have come for us to couple our Agricultural sector to global demand. This requires a proper reading and forecasting of global markets, so our crop mix and repertoire of agricultural activities timeously responds to requirements of the world market. We already do that in respect of tobacco. That discipline must now broaden to cover all areas of agricultural activity,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said he was encouraged by the recent reopening of the Cold Storage Company, once a major exporter of beef.
“I am glad the long dormant Cold Storage Company is now set to resume its part in the whole agricultural matrix. With that recovery must be resurrection of our leather and allied industry for which we were famed previously. Above all, our grand plans to grow Lucerne grass, and to produce stockfeed competitively, must pick pace. This will allow us to increase and improve our National Herd, including in communal areas where the largest herd is found,” President Mnangagwa said.
The conditions for the farmer, locally and beyond the country’s borders, were favourable and couldn potentially add impetus to the country’s development aspirations, he said.
