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(TALKZIMBABWE) Zimbabwe farming sector improving, says UN

Zimbabwe farming sector improving, says UN
By: Reuters-TZG
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 6:25 am

Mbuya Chirimanyemba in her maize field: improved techniques, seed availability and gvt inputs have turned her fortunes around.



THE farming sector in Zimbabwe has started to recover from depths plumbed two years ago when it faced a food crisis, and the country's food security situation is improving, a U.N. official said.

"There was an improvement from 1.2 million tonnes to 1.3 million tonnes," Jacopo D'Amelio, a regional information coordinator with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.

This is a sign that the Farm Mechanisation Programme, a brainchild of Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono, is beginning to bear fruit.

"There's also a feeling that the food security situation is improving," he said.

Distribution of inputs by the Reserve Bank and better use of land have led to the improvement.

The improvement is despite the fact that donors have withdrawn their support for Zimbabwe's agriculture because of government's policy of land redistribution. "Donors are putting in less money," D'Amelio said.

D'Amelio said aid agencies would consider extending programmes to sell fertiliser and seeds at discounted prices to those who can pay.

Relief agencies say combined donor support to small farmers accounted for up to 20 percent of Zimbabwe's maize output of 1.3 million tonnes in the 2009-10 season. The other 80 percent came from RBZ support.

Labels: GIDEON GONO, LAND REFORM, MECHANISATION

posted by MrK @ 5:18 PM