Gono, Zhanda in stormy Parliament clash
17/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A PARLIAMENTARY select committee hearing was abandoned Tuesday after a heated clash between central bank governor, Gideon Gono, and Zanu PF Goromonzi North MP, Paddy Zhanda, with the legislator storming out of the meeting.
The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture was discussing the US$200 million agricultural mechanisation programme financed by the RBZ which critics say helped stoke the central bank’s US$1.5 billion debt after beneficiaries failed to pay for the equipment.
The RBZ also ended up being sued by private companies which supplied the equipment after failing to pay them.
But tempers flared Tuesday after Gono refused a request by Zhanda, a top Harare businessman and former bank executive, to reveal the names of the beneficiaries of the programme.
“Section 60 (1) of the RBZ Act [Chapter 22:15] forbids bank staff from disclosing information relating to the affairs of the bank or a customer unless lawfully required to do so by any court or under any enactment,” Gono said.
“Anybody who contravenes the section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
Zhanda countered that select committee hearings were protected under the privileges of Parliament, triggering a heated argument with Gono.
Mhondoro Ngezi legislator Bright Matonga tried to calm the frayed tempers by suggesting Zhanda allow Gono time to bring the information to Parliament.
“I think we did not tell Dr Gono about all the information we wanted from him, so we should allow him time to get the information before we continue with the hearing. The information, like he is saying, belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and has to be cleared first to release it,” Matonga said.
“This meeting is not supposed to be a platform for the settlement of grudges, but the discussion of important national issues.”
But Zhanda, clearly unimpressed, stormed out of the hearing forcing committee chairperson, Moses Jiri, to call-off the meeting.
Relations between Gono and Zhanda have been frosty since the RBZ chief, last year, claimed that the legislator had sought bribes from him promising to abandon a Parliamentary investigation into the central bank's activities in return.
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Meanwhile, Gono had earlier revealed that machinery worth US$200 million was distributed to farmers under the programme which was expected to run for five years, but had only been rolled out for two years between 2007 and 2008. The implements included tractors, combine harvesters, harrows, knapsack sprayers and planters.
“We distributed the machinery with the assistance of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and the Grain Marketing Board,” he said.
“Beneficiaries received implements according to the sizes of their land and the ecological regions in which they are operating.
“The GMB and the Ministry identified the beneficiaries. They were the ones who had information on the farmers and their production records.”
The RBZ chief denied it was the responsibility of the central bank to ensure that farmers paid for the equipment saying the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture had to make the necessary follow-ups. He said the Reserve Bank was did not have the capacity to do the follow-ups with a staff of 500.
Gono refuses to take sole responsible for the central bank’s debt problems and seethes at criticism of his quasi-fiscal activities over the last decade insisting most of the programmes were carried out at the express direction of Cabinet through successive finance ministers.
“So distorted are the facts behind the bank’s debt profile that in some quarters the belief is that RBZ and my management team spent US$1.1 billion either buying tractors and scotch-carts (mechanisation programme) or simply went on a debt contracting spree and blew away the money in support of non-existent programmes or at the worst, (that) the whole amount is a Gono debt which he must find a way to repay,” Gono charged in a statement last year.
“The discussion of RBZ debtors has only centred around Farm Mechanisation debtors who owe RBZ about US$198,0 million which is 12,4 per cent of RBZ’s debtors, while ignoring 87,6 per cent of the debts owed to the bank by Government.
“If government was to repay RBZ US$1,4 billion that it owes the apex bank tomorrow, the bank would in turn be able to pay its US$1,1 billion debt to creditors and still remain with US$300 million for its capitalisation, lender of last resort operations, day-to-day needs and then focus on its core mandate!”
Labels: CORRUPTION, GIDEON GONO, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), PADDY ZHANDA
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Irrigation set to boost smallholder farmer capacity
Friday, 13 July 2012 11:42
Agriculture Reporter
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made, recently met the
Israeli ambassador for Africa, Mr Dan Shaham, to discuss ways of boosting the irrigation sector. Minister Made said the revival of the irrigation sector was expected to boost the capacity of smallholder farmers.
He said the two parties have been working together in the agriculture sector and this led to the establishment of several institutions related to the irrigation sector. These include the Irrigation Centre at the Institute of Agriculture Engineering and Mechanisation among others.
“The ambassador visited the Irrigation Centre on Tuesday and has seen the state-of-the-art machinery. We have agreed to re-establish the Irrigation Centre, which is very important in training personnel from Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi among other Southern African countries,” said Minister Made.
He said a regional irrigation company, Netafim, would also help the centre through the replacement of computers at the institution.
“We are grateful to experts who are going to work with a local irrigation company, Pedstock, in irrigation re-establishment,” said Minister Made.
The two parties will sign a Memorandum of Understanding soon, which is being drafted. The signing of other agreements at business level will follow the MoU. The meeting also discussed other areas of development and co-operation in the agriculture sector, including mechanisation.
“Israel is a leader in uplifting smallholder farmers from subsistence to commercial level and we are going to use the same system,” said Minister Made. “We are also interested in phytosanitary matters.”
Minister Made said although irrigation development was important, there was need to look at plant and animal diseases that may come with it. Zimbabwe and Israel will also co-operate in the control of animal diseases.
“Israel leads in dairy production and has worked in China, Kenya and Botswana,” said Minister Made.
“We are happy that we are going to strengthen the capacity of our scientists in extension, training and research.”
Ambassador Shaham said the meeting was fruitful. “We have reached a concrete level. We spoke to professionals and got suggestions on how we can help the small holder farmers through irrigation system,” he said.
Labels: IRRIGATION, ISRAEL, JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE)
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Winter wheat season the worst ever
Saturday, 16 June 2012 21:46
Emilia Zindi
Zimbabwe is facing its worst winter wheat season as most farmers contemplate abandoning the crop because of problems in accessing inputs.
Farmers have failed to access financial support to acquire inputs and are now describing the 2012 season as the worst season ever. Government announced a US$20 million input facility which did not kick off as it later came to light that the facility had been announced without proper consultation with stakeholders.
Farmers, on the other hand, got the impression that the announcement by Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and the Ministry of Finance
[That's the MDC's Tendai Biti's ministry. - MrK]
was real and as such rushed to the said financial institutions, only to be told that nothing of that sort had been communicated to them.
This left farmers moving from one point to the other as they tried to get an explanation on how the facility was to function. But, alas, no concrete explanation came to the farmers until the end of planting date of May 25.
Although Government had set a target of 26 000 hectares, with no support this target has since become unrealistic with different provinces having planted less than 10 000 hectares.
Last season, authorities set a target of 70 000 hectares, which, again, could not be met, resulting in farmers managing to grow only 14 100 hectares.
About 41 000 tonnes of the crop were harvested against the country’s annual requirement of 400 000 tonnes.
To show how bad this season has been, a drive to most of the traditional wheat growing areas revealed a sad scenario where a handful of farmers have grown the crop on self-funding, thereby reducing hectarage.
In some cases, farmers had done land preparations in anticipation of accessing inputs under the US$20 million facility and failed to plant.
In Mashonaland Central, the bulk of wheat farmers had planted less than 10 000 hectares by the end of May with individual growers planting as little as five hectares out of the usual 50 hectares and above.
In Mashonaland West, the situation was the same with the province having managed to do less than 15 000 hectares with Manicaland as well as Mashonaland East having done the lowest hectarages.
This is now a clear sign that the country is to depend on imports.
A Harare-based agricultural services consultant, Mr Elliot Chamanga, said it was clear that farmers were ready to meet the set target.
“Farmers were forced to travel up and down, from one point to the other until the planting deadline passed with no tangible results,” he said.
“They were left with no option but to abandon planting even after they had finished land preparation. It was, again, too late to look for alternatives.’’
Another contributory factor was power shortage.
Most farmers have lost confidence in electricity distribution as the commissioned power utility does not stick to its load-shedding schedules.
“Having said that, the questions that now arise are: will Zimbabwean wheat farmers ever be back on their feet, considering the downward trend that has characterised every winter wheat season? Where is the country heading in terms of wheat growing?’’ said Mr Chamanga.
He said while the above questions remain unanswered, several players in the field have described the downward trend as sad.
Inputs as well as financial support were availed on time in the past.
Farmers would have, by the end of April, secured all their inputs, including working capital.
Mr Chamanga said this was made simple through a stop-order system whereby farmers would access inputs from Grain Marketing Board depots.
The farmers were then expected to pay back on delivering their crop to the parastatal within three days. After deliveries, the farmers were expected to drive back to their farms with truckloads of inputs for the next season.
“The system was efficient as GMB was a one-stop shop. Farmers were also assured of a market for their grain with payment being done right on time,’’ said Mr Chamanga.
“Wheat deliveries from October would see farmers leaving the depots loaded with inputs for the summer cropping season, which begins in November.
“It was a cycle where production on the farms was non-stop.”
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union president Mr Donald Khumalo associated the present systems with the economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West.
He said the sanctions were, among other objectives, designed to stifle the land reform programme.
“The whole idea is to give the outside world an impression that those who got land have failed when in actual fact they are being made to fail by the creation of these harsh conditions,’’ he said.
“My appeal to Government is that it should not be taken for a ride by some elements in the inclusive Government by denouncing our farmers who are operating under difficult conditions.
“We have heard some Government officials suggesting that land should be ‘repossessed’. The question is: are these farmers failing deliberately? The answer is simple, no.
“The conditions being created under the inclusive Government are also making it difficult for our farmers to produce. This is evidenced by the fact that from 2000 to 2008, things were moving well in the sector as farmers were being supported.’’
Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union executive director Mr Paul Zakariya said farmers should never lose heart because of the chaos in the sector.
He said the union gets worried when some Government officials castigate farmers.
“What was the farmer expected to do when he or she visited the designated points for inputs collection and was told there was no arrangement in place?’’
“Farmers have proved their ability many times and we are convinced that if given the inputs on time, they can produce enough to meet the country’s needs. Again, the issue of availability of electricity to irrigate needs to be addressed as wheat production requires a lot of irrigation water.’’
Labels: MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), WHEAT
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Govt to strengthen horticultural sector
Friday, 01 June 2012 00:00
Agriculture Reporter
GOVERNMENT will strengthen research and extension services in the horticultural sector to ensure the Horticultural Promotion Council is represented in regional and global trade negotiations. In a speech read on his behalf by his Permanent Secretary
Ngoni Masoka , Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made, recently said Government was committed to promoting the participation of smallholder farmers in the production of fresh produce.
“The Government Medium Term Plan 2011-12 recognises the importance of horticultural production to export generation capacity and employment creation.
“In this regard Government will facilitate the training of new horticulture farmers who need to meet certification requirements and processes that enable them to participate in the export market,” said Minister Made.
He was addressing delegates attending a field day held at the Prime Seed Research Station and Nursery at Gletwyn Farm in Harare recently.
The occasion also drew delegates from Switzerland, Kenya and South Africa, among others.
Minister Made described horticulture as a major foreign currency earner after tobacco and cotton accounting for approximately 4,5 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product.
“The agricultural sector ranks as one of the largest employers employing approximately 500 000 people with horticulture accounting for 15 percent of the figure.
“The major horticultural crops grown in Zimbabwe include tomatoes, onion, cabbage, kales, baby corn, mange tout peas, pepper, cauliflower and broccoli, which we have seen on our field tour today,” he said.
Tea, coffee, citrus, bananas and flowers, he said, had been some of the country’s major export crops in the past.
Minister Made said a lot of research and work had been done on horticulture production with various Horticulture Research Institutes across the country.
“Nyanga Research Institute has the mandate to conduct research on potatoes and deciduous fruits, Chipinge Coffee Research Institute does coffee and tea while
Marondera Horticulture Research Institute does brassicas and solanaceous crops among others.
“Private companies like Prime Seed Group and institutions like ART Farm are also involved in horticulture research work. More, however, still needs to be done to develop new varieties better adapted to the local climatic conditions and breeding for pest and disease tolerance in horticulture,” said Minister Made.
He also revealed that Zimbabwe used to export close to 20 000 tonnes of horticultural produce in the 1990s and had grown to export over 80 000 tonnes by 2001.
Despite experiencing a 56 percent drop in export volumes afterwards, the industry had started showing signs of recovery as of 2007 to the present, said Minister Made.
“The country has the capacity to export close to 200 000 tonnes of horticultural produce annually with major exports including mange tout peas, sugar snap peas, runner beans, baby corn, sweet corn, broccoli and courgettes.
“Passion fruit, plums, mangoes, nectarines and raspberries have also been identified as export winners and are being exported in increasing volumes,” he commented.
Minister Made also challenged Government to come up with a horticultural crop development authority to spearhead the development of the horticultural sector like Kenya has done.
In an interview on the sidelines of the field day, Prime Seed managing director, Mr Willie Ranby, challenged farmers to visit the Prime Seed Research Station and Nursery on any day for assistance and not just wait for field days.
“We are here 365 days a year and farmers should take advantage of that to come and seek technical assistance to improve their yields,” he said.
Labels: HORTICULTURE, JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE)
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Wheat farmers still to be paid
Saturday, 21 January 2012 18:52
Faith Mhandu
Wheat farmers who delivered grain to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) during the 2007/2008 marketing season are still to receive
outstanding payments amounting to US$4 million owing to disagreements between the parastatal and the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development over the issue.
GMB management continues to refer the farmers to the parent ministry while the ministry, in turn, insists the parastatal is better placed to deal with the matter.
In an interview last week, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union director Mr Peter Gambara accused the GMB and the ministry of disadvantaging wheat producers.
“The GMB has been arguing that it is not their responsibility to pay the debt, saying Cabinet had already undertaken to pay us,” he said.
“I delivered 21 tonnes for which I have not received a single cent. Initially, it was said they were going to pay us by swapping inputs, but this, too, did not materialise.
“The GMB was then made to compile a list of farmers with outstanding payments. We did that, but did not receive anything. Farmers are losing faith in Government and the GMB.”
GMB general manager Mr Albert Mandizha said Cabinet approved the payment through the Ministry of Finance. He said the matter was no longer in his institution’s hands.
He said although farmers were still inquiring, the parastatal still awaited Government to act.
“The Minister of Agriculture held a Press conference in 2010 to announce that Cabinet had approved the payment of farmers for the 2007/08 season,” he said.
“It is no longer up to the GMB to pay, but the ministries of Finance and Agriculture.”
The Secretary for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Mr Ngoni Masoka, maintained the GMB was better placed to handle the matter.
“The general manager of GMB is in the best position to answer since they are the ones responsible. He knows what is happening,” said Mr Masoka.
Labels: GRAIN MARKETING BOARD ZIMBABWE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), WHEAT
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Govt happy with tobacco auction floors’ preps
Thursday, 09 February 2012 00:00
Agriculture Reporter
Government is satisfied with the state of preparedness of auction floors ahead of the start of the 2012 tobacco-selling season on Wednesday next week. Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Mr Seiso Moyo yesterday said he was impressed after touring four auction floors that were licensed to operate this season.
Four auction floors namely Tobacco Sales Floor Limited, Boka Tobacco Auction Floor, Millennium Tobacco Floors and Premier Tobacco Auction Floor will operate during the 2012 tobacco-selling season.
The delegation touring the auction floors included Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development permanent secretary, Mr Ngoni Masoka, Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chairperson, Mrs Monica Chinamasa, TIMB chief executive, Dr Andrew Matibiri and TIMB operations manager, Mr Meanwell Gudu among other officials.
Mr Moyo said: "There are benchmarks for certain standards that the auction floors have to meet. We have realised that a lot of work has been done at the auction floors compared to last year."
He said Government was concerned with the welfare of farmers at the auction floors and would want to see tobacco growers receiving satisfactory services. "Preparations for this season are wonderful and maybe some challenges will be seen when farmers start coming to the floors,' he said.
Mr Moyo said the threat of cholera and typhoid remained a challenge.
"That is why we wanted to see if the auction floors had alternative sources of water in place to ensure farmers always have access to clean and safe water," he said.
The delegation was also inspecting clinics, toilets and bathrooms for farmers, banks, security, tobacco-handling facilities from the time of delivery until sale and alternative sources of energy among other factors.
Yesterday, workers were putting final touches at the floors.
Farmers have already started booking to sell their crop.
Labels: MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), TOBACCO
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Tobacco export to rake in US$500m
Saturday, 29 October 2011 00:00
Agriculture Reporter
ZIMBABWE is expected to earn US$500 million from the export of tobacco produced during the 2010/11 cropping season. The country had initially raked in US$361 direct earnings from the crop during the selling season.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Permanent Secretary Mr Ngoni Masoka at the official closing of the tobacco season in Harare yesterday, Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made, said tobacco had become the single largest foreign currency earner for the economy.
"Agriculture is a major contributor to the country's GDP as in 2009 and in 2010 it contributed 14,9 percent and 19 percent respectively.
"The sector provides employment and income for about 70 percent of the population, supplies 60 percent of raw materials required by the industrial sector and contributes 40 percent of total export earnings," he said.
Minister Made applauded the tobacco sector for working hard during the tobacco production and selling seasons.
There has been an increase in production by seven percent from 123,5 million kilogrammes of tobacco produced last season to 132,4 million kilogrammes this season.
The continued increase has been attributed to increased production from small scale farmers.
"With this achievement, the country is continuing its march towards consolidating its global position as an important international player in global tobacco production and trade," he said.
Tobacco production has been on the increase over the last decade.
"The number of tobacco growers has increased dramatically over the last decade from a register of 8 500 (growing an average of 10 hectares each) to over 66 000 growers (growing an average of 1,3 hectares each) of whom 80 percent are small scale in the A1 and communal sector," he said.
Speaking at the same function, Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chairperson, Mrs Monica Chinamasa, noted that the just ended tobacco-selling season was characterised by inadequate funding from the financial institutions.
"This has become a perennial problem that militates against rapid recovery of production.
"The A2 sector is the most affected by this lack of funding. This sector only accounted for 12 percent of total production, compared to 28 percent for A1, 18 percent communal, 11 percent small scale and 31 percent large scale producers," she said.
Mrs Chinamasa said there was need for a concerted effort to train growers to reduce handling losses, which were as high as 21 percent during the just ended season.
Production was also affected by continuous power cuts that increased the cost of production and reduce viability.
She bemoaned the current sales floor facilities and all marketing systems, which were overwhelmed and congested resulting in farmers enduring delays in sales, loss of bales and inadequate catering.
Some of the challenges included pay- ment delays, inadequate catering, poor security and other necessary support services.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), TOBACCO
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US$300m agric facility unveiled
Thursday, 27 October 2011 00:00
Obert Chifamba Senior Agriculture Reporter
ZIMBABWE has secured a US$300 million loan facility from Brazil to support farmers under the More Food for Africa programme. Speaking after meeting in Harare yesterday, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said the money will boost agricultural production and enhance food security.
The costs of the money and repayment period were not disclosed. However, Zimbabwe is the first beneficiary of the Brazilian aid scheme for Africa.
Said Minister Made: "The More Food for Africa programme is important for the country as it has managed to address some of the challenges we have been facing in securing lines of credit to support the agriculture sector that incidentally is the backbone of the economy."
He said Brazil had provided US$600 million to support the Chisumbanje Ethanol Project and deployed technical staff and engineers to work alongside Zimbabweans.
Minister Made hailed Brazil's efforts in supporting both the agriculture and energy sectors.
He said the co-operation between the two countries was critical in boosting food security and economic development.
Minister Made said co-operation between Zimbabwe and Brazil had enabled Zimbabwe to develop plans of expanding the Chisumbanje ethanol project.
Brazil exported technology, machinery and other equipment to Zimbabwe to boost mechanisation capacity and irrigation performance.
Minister Made expressed gratitude that authorities had granted the Chisumbanje ethanol project the licence to trade in products related to ethanol-based fuel.
"Government recently set up an inter-ministerial committee to spearhead the development of the project.
"In working on the project with Brazil, more food and ethanol would be produced to save the rest of Africa and these give the private sector investment opportunities," he said. Minister Made described the ethanol project as a private-public-partnership open for more investment to come in and link with their Brazilian counterparts.
This, he said, would allow them to explore opportunities in the agriculture, energy, mining and water development sectors.
"We need energy in the sector to get irrigation going. Water is critical in the agriculture sector so the Brazilian gesture to assist in irrigation development will boost levels of production," he said.
Labels: BRAZIL, JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE)
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300ha wheat wilts, power cable thefts cited
Friday, 16 September 2011 02:00
Agriculture Reporter
SOME Beatrice wheat farmers have begun counting their losses after over 300 hectares of their winter wheat crop is wilting due to power outages caused by electricity cable thefts in the area. The power outages have affected Nengwa, Denby and Welcome home and Innsfree farms.
The farmers say they have gone for more than two weeks without electricity and their crop is now a write off. Mr Nyasha Mangena, said the situation had gone out of hand as their crop will never recover even if electricity was restored.
Other farmers in the area were contemplating feeding the wheat to their livestock, as they no longer expect any returns.
"There have been numerous cable thefts and Zesa Holdings has been taking very long to replace the stolen equipment.
"We once had the same problem in May when we were planting and now our crop has reached the flowering stage, which requires enough water and we do not get the electricity," he said.
Mr Mangena said the thefts were so organised that some farmers were beginning to suspect Zesa Holdings officials.
"It is so strange how the thieves will quickly know that new cables have been put in place. Soon after replacement, the cables are stolen and we do not have resources to investigate," he said. Another farmer, Mr Simon Mawarure, said it was disturbing that police and Zesa officials' investigations were yielding nothing.
"The police and Zesa officials take long to investigate the issue and this is raising our eyebrows," he said.
Mr Mawarure said instead of replacing the cables, a Zesa depot manager for Beatrice only identified as Mr Nyakungu was harassing farmers and accusing them of stealing the cables.
"How can we steal the cables when we have a crop that requires irrigation and how much can we get from the cable compared to the profits we get from the land," said Mr Mawarure.
The affected farmers said Mr Nyakungu was in the habit of misrepresenting information to his superiors.
Farmers in the area have now employed people to guard the cables.
Another wheat grower, Mr Godfrey Muradzikwa, said he was now depending on generators to irrigate his crop although the other 25 hectares were now a write off.
Besides wheat farmers, the power shortages have also affected dairy, poultry and pig farmers in the area.
Mr Noël Chikuvanyanga, said he was now giving his pigs and chickens dirty water from the swimming pool.
"Now my layers are dying and I am suspecting it could be this contaminated water but I have nothing to do," he said.
The farmers appealed to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Joseph Made to intervene.
"Minister Made is the only person who can save us because the other methods are not working," he said.
Zesa Holding spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said he needed time to investigate the issue.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), NEW FARMERS, SABOTAGE, WHEAT
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Make inputs easily accessible, says Made
Wednesday, 31 August 2011 02:00
Agriculture Reporter
GOVERNMENT has challenged fertiliser and seed companies to consider introducing credit schemes that allow farmers easy access to inputs ahead of the 2011/12 farming season. The inputs should not be for free and farmers must agree on payment terms with the seed or fertiliser suppliers so that they plant quality and new seed.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made on Monday said most farmers were in the habit of planting recycled seed whenever the rains come before they would have acquired seed, which compromises the quality of produce and yields in the end.
"It does not make much economic sense for input suppliers to sit with huge stocks of inputs in their warehouses while farmers plant old seed because they have no money to buy fresh seed. No farmers at the moment are capable of financing their operations 100 percent independently," said Minister Made.
He appealed to banks and officials working on the fund that Government has promised the agricultural sector to urgently put together the details needed by the Finance Ministry to facilitate the release of the funds.
On the other hand, Minister Made said, Finance Minister Tendai Biti should speed up the payments of delivered grain so that farmers have cash to secure inputs and fund other operations for the coming season.
"Minister Biti can even give the inputs suppliers guarantees that Government will pay the farmers so that they can get inputs on credit and later pay," he said.
The European Union is also mobilising donors to give inputs to farmers, added Minister Made.
"We have agreed with the donors through EU that they need to speedily conclude the selection of the beneficiaries of the programme so that they start preparations for next season in earnest.
"EU is also proposing that this year farmers will either have vouchers to access inputs or be capacitated to make down payments for inputs so that the full potential of communal farmers in particular, is fully realised," said Minister Made.
Minister Made added that next season's focus was on improving yields per unit area hence the need for extension workers to be readily available to assist farmers. He further challenged all Government departments, farmers and the donors (Government's partners) to prioritise empowering the needy farmers first to boost productivity.
Meanwhile, Minister Made has commended the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society for staging a successful show that he said had become the premier event for farmers to showcase their potential.
He, however, urged ZAS to always anticipate huge turnouts for the event as more and more farmers were beginning to realise the benefits of exhibiting and be prepared to handle them.
"As Minister of Agriculture, I would also like to apologise to all the people, especially children who failed to enter the show due to sheer numbers. Children really needed to enjoy and learn new things about our agro-based economy and business in general," he said.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, HARARE AGRICULTURAL SHOW, JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE)
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Seed Co awards top farmer with tractor, cash
Friday, 26 August 2011 02:00
Herald Reporter
A CHIWESHE farmer Eckinos Gombera was crowned Seed Co farmer of the year in a hotly contested national crop farming competition for small holder communal and resettlement farmers.
Gombera scooped the first prize and won himself a tractor and US$1000 in a stiff competition pitting eight farmers from different provinces in the country.
The second prize and third winner took home grinding mills each and US$750 and US$650 respectively. The other five farmers walked away US$500 rich as well as generators each while extension officers were given motor bikes and cash prizes each.
As a way of encouraging higher productivity, Seed Co reintroduced the 10 Tonne Club for maize and 4 Tonne Club for soyabeans.
Seed Co managing director Mr Denis Zaranyika said the company had been running the competitions since 1982 to encourage better farming practices.
"We are satisfied with the progress we have made in this respect over the years and we see this competition continuing to play a significant role as the country strives to reclaim its breadbasket status for our region.
"We have enough stocks of seed for the coming summer cropping season. Realising that it is not just good enough to have stocks, we have embarked on a programme to ensure that the seeds are available to farmers on time," he said.
As such, Seed Co launched a Bumper Harvest Murigadzose/Umanqobazonke promotion which ensures that farmers buy inputs at their nearest stockist.
Secretary for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Mr Ngoni Masoka said Governemnt was committed to ensuring that farmers are given support to build food reserves.
"Agriculture remains the backbone of our economy as it creates strong linkages with many upstream and downstream industries. The performance of our agriculture sector has a major effect on other key sectors of our economy. "
Labels: MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), SEEDCO
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Zimbabwe, Sudan to co-operate on livestock
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 02:00
ZIMBABWE and the Republic of Sudan will soon be co-operating in the livestock sector with particular emphasis on cattle and sheep, an official said on Sunday. Sudanese ambassador to Zimbabwe Elsiddieg Abdala said that the two countries were in the process of drafting an agreement to formalise the co-operation.
"I have met Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made and we discussed areas of co-operation," he said. "Zimbabwe has the best type of cattle and Sudan has the best type of sheep in the world," he added.
Ambassador Abdala said scientists from the two countries would soon be meeting to share expertise on the two types of animals.
He said Sudan also wanted to learn the processing of hides and skins from Zimbabwe, which used to have a vibrant tannery industry.
The leather sector in Zimbabwe has suffered great losses due to the hyperinflationary environment that the companies were operating under over the past decade.
This was after Western countries imposed an economic embargo on the country as retribution for embarking on agrarian reforms.
Employment figures in the sector have tumbled to about 3 000 from a peak of 12 000 before the economic meltdown took hold.
The farmers, suppliers of the cowhide and skin were failing to maintain their herd due to the low prices that the beasts were fetching on the market.
This led to the shortage of the raw material as well as its low quality, with quantities of hides and skins produced monthly standing at 35 000, a figure that can be increased to 45 000 under full production.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Abdala said there was room for increasing economic co-operation between the two countries, both of which are under economic sanctions from Western countries.
He said the difficult economic situation that Zimbabwe experienced during the past decade had greatly affected relations with Sudan as it was difficult to conduct business transactions using the local currency.
"Now there is no reason for not encouraging business between the two countries," he said.
He noted that Sudan used to import 5 percent of its construction steel and 100 percent of its tobacco from Zimbabwe, but this had since stopped due to the economic difficulties that the later experienced. - New Ziana.
Labels: CATTLE, JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), SUDAN, ZIMBABWE
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50 000t maize set aside for drought relief
Thursday, 21 July 2011 02:00
Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT has released 50 000 tonnes of maize for free distribution to the poor as part of measures to avert hunger in rural areas. Selected families will get US$10 each for mi-lling in the programme that will be co-ordina-ted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfa-re.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development released the maize recently, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paurina Mpariwa confirmed.
Responding to questions in the House of Assembly, Minister Mpariwa said Government had come up with a cocktail of measures to avert hunger in rural areas.
Musikavanhu legislator Mr Prosper Mutseyami (MDC-T) wanted to know Governme-nt's plans with regards to drought relief.
"There are people who cannot perform any duty in terms of public works or food for work programmes like the elderly, the sick, the vulnerable, female and child-headed households.
"Government plans to support 164 324 hou-seholds per month through this programme. Benefiting households will be given vouchers to purchase grain from GMB at ward distribution points and an additional US$10 cash to meet other requirements such as milling and cooking oil. As I speak, GMB has actually mo-ved grain from surplus areas to drought-prone areas," she said.
Minister Mpariwa said her ministry was waiting for the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Asse-ssment Committee to confirm the number of people in need of assistance.
She said the figures will rise considering that when the survey was conducted, other people were still harvesting. Minister Mpariwa said for those who can offer labour, their communities would identify what public works could be done and be paid for their service.
"Benefiting households will be required to work on community projects for a 15-day wor-king month and receive US$20. A cumulative total of 270 998 households will be supported through this component at the peak of food insecurity, that is between January and March 2012
"What we have said is that GMB should move the grain from GMB depots to the communities, so that when people get their money, they will buy the maize. As Government, we promote people to rely on their activities and not to be spoon fed.
"It is the Government's responsibility to feed its people. We cannot leave our people (to) die of hunger," Minister Mpariwa said.
She said they expected donors to meet 50 percent of the food requirements.
Minister Mpariwa said Treasury was also chipping in with a food deficit mitigation programme through the 2011 budget allocation.
"Already, Treasury has released US$600 000 to support the programme. The first batch of 18 districts with 42 280 households will be supported this month. More resources have been promised by Treasury towards the end of this month," she said.
Minister Mpariwa said Government would give monthly cash allowances for free to the poorest under the harmonised social cash transfers programmes.
"This programme was designed to support the poorest 10 percent of the population with a monthly cash allowance. These households will receive between US$15 and US$25 per month depending on the size of the household.
"For 2011, the programme is targeted at assisting 24 000 households in 10 poorest districts as identified by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee as well as the 2010 Nutrition Survey among other data sources," she said.
Minister Mpariwa said the programme would be expanded to reach 250 000 households countrywide by 2015.
She said Treasury has allocated US$6 million while donors had pledged to provide another US$6 million.
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS (ZIMBABWE), MAIZE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE)
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Gvt bans free food handouts by NGOs
Our reporter
Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:17:00 +0000
THE Government of Zimbabwe has banned all food handouts by NGOs and has introduced food-for-work programmes in the country. The decision was announced by Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Joseph Made last week.
Made said the main motivation was to ensure "critical infrastructure development and rehabilitation in affected areas". He added that in the next farming season, priority would be given to cloud seeding, a basic aspect of food security planning.
Food-for-work programmes would be implemented in the notified districts during periods of natural calamities, such as drought, flood, cyclone or earthquake.
"The Government is making adequate drought mitigating measures to ensure that no Zimbabwean starves in the advent of projected food deficit in this season," said Made.
"However, Cabinet has agreed that none of the affected communities will access free food or inputs.
“In the same vein, no NGO will be allowed to doll out free food. We are re-introducing the food or inputs-for-work programme to ensure that our communities do not lag behind developmentally."
Made added that there would be no going back on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's announcement that all beneficiaries of the mechanisation programme should pay up their arrears after harvesting.
He said an irrigation fund would be established with the support of both the Government and the private sector.
"That is that, everyone will have to pay, no excuses. This will be a good lesson to those farmers who have been sitting on the machinery and equipment.
“This is the only way to compel them to take it seriously and use the machinery for productive purposes," he said.
The minister added that the Government would also resuscitate cloud seeding at the beginning of the next season and onwards.
"This is because it has proven that it brings rains.
“We will do it formally and structurally right at the beginning of each agricultural season," he said.
Cabinet has adopted mitigatory strategies to counter the effects of the dry spell that hit most parts of Zimbabwe in January and left crops wilting.
The measures include ensuring a Strategic Grain Reserve while the Government awaits results of the national crop assessment.
Results of the crop assessment, being conducted by the Government and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation, are expected next week.
Government and NGOs were on a collision course in the run-up to the 2008 harmonised elections as NGOs were said to be campaigning for the MDC-T party and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
NGOs were briefly banned from operating in the rural areas during the 2008 elections.
Labels: JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), NGOs
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Zim to harvest over one million tonnes of maize
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 3:44:55 PM
ZIMBABWE this year expects to reap 1.24 million metric tonnes of maize but this will only be sufficient to cater for 68 per cent of cereal needs, according to government figures. The country needs about 2.2 million metric tonnes of summer cereals.
According to the just-released Second Round Crop and Livestock Assessment Report produced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation, the combined maize, sorghum and millet production for 2008/09 is estimated at 1.51 million metric tonnes and this translates into a cereal production deficit of about 690,000 metric tonnes.
This year's anticipated production is more than twice higher than last year's harvest of less than 500,000 tonnes, which plunged the country into severe food insecurity requiring over seven million people to depend on food aid.
In the report, the 2008/09 maize production is estimated at 1,242,571 metric tonnes from a planted area of 1,521,780 hectares giving an average yield of 0.8 tonnes per hectare.
Compared to average maize production in the past five years, the 2008/09 maize production is about 13 per cent higher.
The report said the 2007/08 season had the lowest national average maize yield since 1980 of 0.3 tonnes per hectare.
The government attributed last year's poor harvest to a severe lack of faming inputs such as seed and fertiliser, along with poor rains in most parts of the country.
"The largest proportion of the maize harvest is expected to come from Mashonaland West [20 per cent] followed by Midlands [16 per cent]. While the high production of maize in Mashonaland West is due to both relatively high planted areas and average provincial yields, Midlands Province's production is coming from mainly large hectarages under maize," the report states.
It states that communal areas are expected to produce the highest share with about 41 per cent of the national maize production, up from 28 per cent last season.
Small-scale farmers are expected to produce 22 per cent while contributions of medium and large-scale commercial farmers have dropped from last year, the report states.
Total small grain production is estimated at about 270,000 metric tonnes.
The yield is about 190 per cent higher than the output recorded last year and is 110 per cent higher than the average production of the past five seasons.
Sorghum, finger and pearl millet production for 2008/09 is expected to be 181,448 metric tonnes, 37,162 metric tonnes and 50,938 metric tonnes, respectively.
There was also an increase in the area put under minor crops such as sweet potatoes, which increased by 11 per cent from 61,311 hectares to 69,344 hectares with a projected total production of 298,947 tonnes.
The land under upland rice increased by 30 per cent from 3,891 hectares to 5,077 hectares, with an expected yield of 3,046 metric tonnes.
Labels: MAIZE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), ZIMBABWE
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Zimbabwe to reap 1.24 metric tonnes of maize
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Monday, May 11, 2009 11:50:16 PM
Zimbabwe this year expects to reap 1.24 million metric tonnes of maize but this will only be sufficient to cater for 68 per cent of cereal needs, according to government figures. The country needs about 2.2 million metric tonnes of summer cereals.
According to the just-released Second Round Crop and Livestock Assessment Report produced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation, the combined maize, sorghum and millet production for 2008/09 is estimated at 1.51 million metric tonnes and this translates into a cereal production deficit of about 690,000 metric tonnes.
This year’s anticipated production is more than twice higher than last year’s harvest of less than 500,000 tonnes, which plunged the country into severe food insecurity requiring over seven million people to depend on food aid.
In the report, the 2008/09 maize production is estimated at 1,242,571 metric tonnes from a planted area of 1,521,780 hectares giving an average yield of 0.8 tonnes per hectare.
Compared to average maize production in the past five years, the 2008/09 maize production is about 13 percent higher.
The report said the 2007/08 season had the lowest national average maize yield since 1980 of 0.3 tonnes per hectare. The government attributed last year’s poor harvest to a severe lack of faming inputs such as seed and fertiliser, along with poor rains in most parts of the country.
"The largest proportion of the maize harvest is expected to come from Mashonaland West (20 percent) followed by Midlands (16 percent). While the high production of maize in Mashonaland West is due to both relatively high planted areas and average provincial yields, Midlands Province’s production is coming from mainly large hectarages under maize," the report states.
It states that communal areas are expected to produce the highest share with about 41 percent of the national maize production, up from 28 percent last season.
Small-scale farmers are expected to produce 22 percent while contributions of medium and large-scale commercial farmers have dropped from last year, the report states.
Total small grain production is estimated at about 270,000 metric tonnes.
The yield is about 190 percent higher than the output recorded last year and is 110 percent higher than the average production of the past five seasons.
Sorghum, finger and pearl millet production for 2008/09 is expected to be 181,448 metric tonnes, 37 162 metric tonnes and 50,938 metric tonnes, respectively.
There was also an increase in the area put under minor crops such as sweet potatoes, which increased by 11 percent from 61,311 hectares to 69,344 hectares with a projected total production of 298,947 tonnes.
The land under upland rice increased by 30 percent from 3,891 hectares to 5,077 hectares, with an expected yield of 3,046 metric tonnes.
Labels: MAIZE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), ZIMBABWE
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