Maravi

(HERALD) A2 farmers must shun handouts

COMMENT - Hint - commercial farmers in the US receive massive government subsidies. I'm not suggesting the same thing for Zimbabwe, but the idea that farmers are somehow completely independent of government support anywhere on this planet is a myth.

A2 farmers must shun handouts

WE want to commend the Government for coming up with the US$30 million farming inputs scheme for communal and small-scale farmers.

Communal farmers, in particular, have traditionally produced the bulk of the country’s staple food, maize and, as such, they deserve all the support that can be mobilised for production.

We believe that if there is any group of farmers that should be supported, it is communal farmers for they have proved over the years that they genuinely need the support and that when given the inputs, such as fertiliser and seed, they always put them to productive use.

While Government’s support for the communal, old resettlement, A1 and small-scale farmers has been hailed as positive contribution to achieving food security, there has been an outcry among some A2 farmers who feel Government should have come up with a similar scheme for them.

We, however, tend to disagree with that as we strongly believe that A2 farmers are in the business of farming and, as such, should not depend on Government handouts. A2 farmers are in business, like any other people in other sectors, and should thus approach banks for loans to finance their operations.

They should be able to craft bankable proposals and cash-flow projections to borrow money for productive purposes. A2 farmers should be that group of people that is deemed to have the capacity in terms of financial resources to fund their production and should not expect much by way of support from the Government.

We believe the outcry from some of the A2 farmers is misplaced as, using the property and machinery they have, they can easily get funding from financial institutions.

Some commercial banks are extending loans to A2 farmers and instead of wailing these farmers should take advantage of the window the banks have opened for them. They need to show proof of their offer letters and the ability to repay the loans. They must also provide collateral security, which most of them indicated they possessed upon being given the farms.

Most A2 farmers indicated they had resources to enable them to stand on their own, without depending heavily on the Government. We wonder where that capacity has suddenly vanished to for them to clamour, like communal farmers, for inputs support.

It would have made sense to demand Government support in the absence of a borrowing window from banks. We believe serious farmers will always take farming as a business and approach banks for funding.

Those who have been doing well in the previous seasons can always invest in the business.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with the Government, if it so wishes, funding A2 farmers but we want to discourage A2 farmers from sitting on their laurels in the hope their operations would be funded by the Government.

The farmers must go out of their way to seek their own funding and when they make a profit to always remember to set aside a certain percentage to fund farming operations and in the process move away from being dependent on the Government.

We hope to see A2 farmers making a beeline to the banks to get money to finance their production and boost food security.

Labels: A2 FARMERS, FARM SUBSIDIES

posted by MrK @ 4:54 PM