COMMENT - The same corrupting factor again -
Tongaat Hulett, South African regional
sugarcane refining monopolist. Tongaat Hulett is at least
20% owned by Anglo-American Corporation, the same company that holds 85% of
De Beers, the diamond monopolist. (Also see:
The Diamond Empire, 1994) Anglo-American Corporation was
formed in 1917 by sir Ernest Oppenheimer and J.P. Morgan, Rothschild baron associated family member and their US agent, respectively. (Read: The House Of Rothschild, by prof. Niall Ferguson) It's the Rothschild Barons. The reason I say all this, is because it is important to know that whether it's the
IMF/WB setting conditionalities like
ESAP,
De Beers going after the Chiadzwa and Marange diamond fields, or Tongaat Hulett bribing minister Douglas Mombeshora, the reason it is all in the same interest isn't some general class interest or 'White Monopoly Capital', but the interest of one very wealthy very specific family. - MrK
A source said the government had been put under pressure to honour its obligations under the BIPPA arrangement hence the speed with which it moved to evict the farmers.
A farmer who spoke to Newzimbabwe.com last week said government had been put under pressure by “senior sugar business people” and that large sums of money had exchanged hands.
(NEWZIMBABWE) Farm row: F/affairs, lands ministers clash as diaspora returnee et al farmers take eviction to court
by Mthulisi Mathuthu
29/12/2016
THE dispute over the Triangle Ranch in Masvingo turned ugly this week with the foreign affairs department accusing the minister of lands of resettling A2 farmers on the property without following “proper procedures”.
Newzimbabwe.com reported last week on the eviction with “immediate effect” of the farmers from a part of the sugar cane ranch which was acquired from Tongaat Hulett and subdivided into various plots for the resettlement of 174 A2 farmers.
On Wednesday, the Lowveld Sugar Cane Growers Association, mostly diaspora returnees, children of liberation war heroes and poor people, filed an urgent chamber application for an interdict. The association is part of the Hippo Valley Farmers Association-the broader group which represents the 290 farmers issued with the offer letters by Minister Douglas Mombeshora in April this year.
The hearing started on Thursday and will continue on Friday after lawyers from the foreign affairs said they needed time to file opposing papers because they needed to obtain affidavits from Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and the Permanent Secretary Joey Bimha. Only the lands ministry had filed opposing papers by Thursday.
The matter is being heard by High Court judge Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo. The farmers are being represented by Mberi and Associates while the foreign affairs department is represented by Mumbengegwi and Partners.
The farmers made the urgent application to stop their immediate eviction pending another application to the Administrative Court which opens next month.
In his eviction order, minister Mombershora said the farmers should “cease all or any operations” and leave the property “immediately” because the “purpose for withdrawal outweighs the representations” made by the applicants.
But the farmers argue that they should be allowed to harvest their sugar cane while government must compensate them.
A member of the association told Newzimbabwe.com that during the brief appearance on Thursday, officials from the foreign affairs were “clearly unhappy” with the urgent application, labelling the evictees “enemies of the state”.
The spokesperson said the government officials felt that the farmers should have waited for the administrative court case.
She added, “We are now being labelled enemies of the state but we went to the High Court because Mombeshora said we should leave immediately. But how can we just leave after we have invested in our plots and do so without compensation?”
A government lawyer told Newzimbabwe.com that their argument is that Mombeshora resettled the farmers without following “proper procedures” hence the minister was put under pressure to evict the farmers “immediately”. The lawyers said, as such, the farmers have no case because they occupied the property due to the minister’s “error”.
The spokesman for the farmers said they had been told to claim compensation from the original owners of the farm, something she said was ridiculous.
She added, “But how can we claim compensation from Tongaat Hulett when we did not get the offer letters from them?”
She said while the lands ministry was offering alternative land, there was no guarantee yet that that was a genuine offer and that they would be compensated and allowed to harvest their sugar cane which is now one and half meters high.
Tongaat Hullet, whose core businesses are sugar, starch and property management is listed on the
Johannesburg Securities Exchange.
The Triangle Ranch is covered under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA), hence the ministry of foreign affairs involvement. Agreements under BIPPA require that government pay fair compensation in currency of the former owner’s choice for both land and improvements. Zimbabwe and South Africa signed the BIPPA deal in 2010.
South African president Jacob Zuma was in Zimbabwe recently.
A source said the government had been put under pressure to honour its obligations under the BIPPA arrangement hence the speed with which it moved to evict the farmers.
A farmer who spoke to Newzimbabwe.com last week said government had been put under pressure by “senior sugar business people” and that large sums of money had exchanged hands.
Labels: CORRUPTION, DOUGLAS MOMBESHORA, NEOLIBERALISM, NEW FARMERS
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COMMENT - It is immoral to tax the new farmers to 'compensate' the former landowners. If anyone should be compensated, it are the New Farmers.
(NEWZIMBABWE) New farmers resist compensating whites
ZIMBABWE's plan to win back international funding by paying compensation to white farmers forced off their land faces a major snag: the black farmers expected to stump up the cash say they don't have it.
The new occupants working the land, many of who had few farming skills when they were resettled, say they can barely make ends meet, let alone pay an extra levy.
Their agricultural output is a fraction of the level seen before 2000, when President Robert Mugabe - saying he sought to correct colonial injustices - introduced land reforms which led to thousands of experienced white farmers being evicted.
They are also being hammered by the worst drought in a quarter of a century and toiling under a stagnating economy that has seen banks reluctant to lend and cheaper food imports from the likes of South Africa undermining their businesses.
"Are farmers able to pay? I will say no. Is the land being productive? I will say no again," said Victor Matemadanda, secretary general of a group representing war veterans who led the land seizure drive in 2000 and are now farmers.
He told Reuters that many farmers could not even meet water and electricity bills and that it was the government's obligation - not theirs - to pay the compensation.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union President, Abdul Nyathi, also said his members would not be able to pay compensation. "Most of the farmers face viability issues, the government will have to look at other ways of raising money," he added.
Mugabe's land reforms have led to about 5,000 white farmers being evicted from their land by his supporters and war veterans over the past 16 years, often violently. More than a dozen farmers have been killed.
The land seizures, along with allegations of vote-rigging and rights abuses - all denied by Mugabe - led to Zimbabwe being targeted by sanctions from Western donors. This compounded the economic plight of the country, which saw financing from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank frozen in 1999 after it defaulted on debts.
The IMF's head of mission to Zimbabwe, Domenico Fanizza, said this month that improving fiscal discipline and re-engaging the international community should be priorities for Harare. He said this would "reduce the perceived country risk premium and unlock affordable financing for the government and private sector".
DIVIDED OPINION
In an attempt to woo back international donors and lenders, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced a package of major reforms on March 9, including the farm measure and a big reduction in public-sector wages. He said it had the full backing of Mugabe.
The farm plan involves 300,000 families resettled on seized land paying an annual rent - based on the size of their farms - towards a compensation fund for those evicted.
If they are unable to pay, however, it could be a major setback for the government's plans to shore up an economy that is stagnating after a deep recession in the decade to 2008, which slashed its output by nearly half, drove hundreds of thousands abroad in search of better paying jobs and has left the jobless rate at around 85 percent.
The finance ministry did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the ability of farmers to pay the levy.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, John Mangudya, told Reuters that the farmers' situation should improve once the government grants them 99-year leases on their land, which he said would make it easier for them to secure financing from banks and to pay rent towards the compensation fund.
All agricultural land in Zimbabwe is owned by the government and, at present, farmers have no legal claim on their farms - which they say has made banks reluctant to extend loans to buy fertilisers, seed and chemicals so they can raise output. But the government says it will imminently grant the leases.
"We are saying that the land should produce, but we also know what the constraints are to increase production," said Mangudya. "That is why we need to finalize on the 99-year land lease agreements to make them bankable so that farmers have security of tenure. With that there is no reason why farmers should not be able to pay (rent)."
Mugabe's land reform program is a highly emotive issue, which has divided public opinion. Supporters say it has empowered blacks while opponents see it as a partisan process that left Zimbabwe struggling to feed itself.
"The land revolution was a necessity and if the economy was running very well farmers would be able to pay the rent," said Matemadanda of the war veterans' group. "The prevailing economic conditions do not allow."
The land seizures have led to a steep fall in commercial agriculture output; yields for the staple maize have fallen to an average 0.5 tonnes percent per hectare from 8 tonnes in 2000 when white farmers worked the land.
Mugabe acknowledged the skills of evicted white farmers last week, saying they had helped neighboring Zambia to produce excess maize, which Zimbabwe was now importing.
ELECTIONS
A treasury ministry circular said that compensation would be paid out of rent from black farmers who benefited from the seizures. Chinamasa has not said when farmers would be expected to start paying the rents, or at what level they would be set.
When announcing the measures, he said production on black-owned farms was "scandalously low" and that the economy was under siege from the drought.
The white Zimbabweans who accounted for the majority of those evicted will be compensated only for the improvements they made to the farms, while the foreign owners forced out will be paid full compensation for land and improvements, under the plan.
Chinamasa said Harare broke bilateral investment agreements with other countries when it seized farms owned by foreigners.
Tony Hawkins, professor of business studies at the University of Zimbabwe, said the government was "going through the motions to keep the IMF happy".
"They probably want the international community to see that they are doing something," he said. "I doubt they will press with this ahead of the elections," he added, referring to the 2018 general election. Farmers are an important voting block for Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
Hundreds of evicted white Zimbabwean farmers are now farming in Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Nigeria, while others migrated to Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Hendrik Olivier, director at the formerly white-dominated Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), said the government had not yet approached evicted farmers to discuss compensation, and also cast doubt on the plan's viability.
The CFU, which once boasted 4,500 farmers who produced 90 percent of Zimbabwe's export crops, including tobacco and horticulture produce until 2000, now only has 300 members.
"It's a huge step forward, lets acknowledge that. In the past the government has said that it won't pay compensation," Olivier told Reuters.
"But if you are talking about new farmers paying a levy, that's not gonna work, that's not gonna pay our compensation."
Labels: LAND REFORM, NEOLIBERALISM, NEW FARMERS, VICTOR MATEMADANDA
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(HERALD ZW) US$720m agric facility: Farmers court banks
October 19, 2013 silence muchemwa Headlines, Top Stories
Elita Chikwati Agriculture Reporter—
FARMERS have urged banks to relax their lending conditions so that they can access the US$720 million agriculture support facility availed for the 2013/14 summer cropping season. Banks are insisting on collateral and are not accepting 99-year leases and offer letters as security, prompting farmers to negotiate a relaxation of stringent collateral requirements.
Farmer unions have encouraged members to form groups to unlock funding.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union vice president Mr Abdul Nyathi said they were engaging banks on the issue.
“We are currently engaging banks on how best we can access the funding. We have come up with a plan of group lending and some banks have accepted the arrangement.”
Mr Nyathi said conditions set by banks were so stringent that few farmers would access the cash.
“For the past years, banks have been availing funds for agricultural support with only few farmers getting the money because of these measures. We are negotiating with the banks so we agree on terms of lending,” he said.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union vice president Mr Johnson Mapira said most farmers did not have the required collateral security.
“Some farmers do not have houses which can be used as collateral. Banks should consider other forms of property as security,” he said.
Other farmers suggested that banks should consider livestock and farm machinery such as tractors and implements as collateral.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development responsible for crops, mechanisation and irrigation, Cde David Marapira said he would meet banks to map the way forward.
“I am going to have a meeting with the banking sector soon to see how we can assist farmers this season. Few farmers are accessing money from banks since the majority cannot meet the banks’ requirements,” he said.
Cde Marapira advised farmers to switch to contract farming.
He said contract farming was more viable than having to wait for the loans which may be accessible late into the season.
“There is a statutory instrument that guides contract farming. The regulatory framework states what every part should do to ensure a win-win situation.
“Contract farming is viable if handled well without the issue of side marketing,” he said.
Labels: LENDING RATES, NEW FARMERS
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(HERALD ZW) Govt wants debt freeze for farmers
October 14, 2013
Tendai Mugabe recently in MUKUMBURA
VICE President Joice Mujuru says Government intends to engage banks with a view to freezing debts owed by farmers to enable them to access funding for the 2013/14 cropping season.She said the stop-order loan repayment system should be resuscitated with respect to farmers who delivered grain to the Grain Marketing Board.
VP Mujuru said this in a speech read on her behalf by Mashonaland Central Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Cde Martin Dinha on Saturday at victory celebrations hosted by Mount Darwin North legislator Cde Novet Muponora in Mukumbura.
Addressing questions of food and nutrition, VP Mujuru said:
“That financial institutions (will) be engaged with a view to securing a moratorium for debt repayment by farmers already saddled with debts to the same institutions, to enable them to access funding for the 2013/14 agricultural seasons.”
VP Mujuru said Government, through the District Development Fund, had acquired tractors to bolster rural tillage and the Zunde raMambo facility.
In Mashonaland Central, VP Mujuru said, Government had allocated 40 tractors.
“The tractors will help chiefs, child-headed families, widows and widowers, people living with HIV and war veterans,” she said.
VP Mujuru said Government would soon formulate a law that regulates contract farming, making it mandatory for farmers and contractors to meet their obligations.
Some farmers have been short changed by contractors after signing contracts they do not understand while some farmers were engaging in side marketing.
VP Mujuru said the law was aimed at creating a win-win situation between farmers and contractors.
“The Government package provides a mechanism for the enforcement of contractual obligations to protect the investments of farmers, contractors and suppliers,” she said.
“This is the law. Farmers and contractors must respect and live within the law. Hatidi vaya vanonyepera kungwara vanoita side marketing or those companies that provide inadequate inputs and pay poor prices that are even below international market prices.”
VP Mujuru said Zanu-PF was committed to implementing promises made to the people as espoused in its manifesto.
In this regard, she said the Government had intensified efforts to provide inputs for the 2013/14 farming season. She said Government had made available US$182 million for the summer cropping season and banks were also complementing Government efforts by developing rural infrastructure such as irrigation and feeder roads.
VP Mujuru said Government was aware of the challenges facing people in Mukumbura such as the poor road network and the need for upgrading of immigration offices.
“I am aware of the poor state of the roads in the constituency and nationwide,” she said.
VP Mujuru called for unity of purpose among party supporters in Mashonaland Central as they elect a new provincial leadership later this month.
The incumbent Cde Dickson Mafios would battle it out with Cde Joboringo Mushore for the chairmanship of the province.
“Team Zanu-PF kushanda nevamwe zvakanaka takabatana,” she said.
“Mazvake-mazvake haatibatsiri uye hatiade. A leader whose eye is blind to nepotism, a leader who does not become cheap and by demonising and gossiping around, but focuses on challenges facing the constituency and how these can be resolved.”
Cde Muponora, who is also the Deputy Minister for Small to Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development, thanked the electorate for voting resoundingly for Zanu-PF.
Cde Muponora got 17 910 votes in the July 31 harmonised elections against MDC-T’s candidate’s 612.
Labels: JOICE MUJURU, MARTIN DINHA, NEW FARMERS
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(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) President Mugabe reassures farmers
Sunday, 19 May 2013 00:00
Emilia Zindi Agriculture Editor
Government will continue to support farmers to enable them to increase agricultural productivity and ensure they fully utilise land allocated under the land reform programme, President Mugabe has said.
Speaking at the launch of the Food and Nutrition Security Policy in Harare on Friday, the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said the country’s traditional high yields continue to be affected by factors such as recurrent droughts.
He said the Western-imposed economic sanctions on the country also hamper maximum production by starving farmers of finance to purchase inputs, farm implements, maintain infrastructure and establish new irrigation systems.
He added that agricultural input packages must be designed to have an immediate impact on farm production.
“Taking cognisance of the critical importance of food and nutrition security, Government took a variety of measures aimed at promoting agriculture in order to increase food production output on the farms.
“These measures included agricultural subsidies, establishment of schemes to assist farmers with inputs, and the development and promotion of irrigation agriculture.’’
The President said the envisaged Irrigation Development Policy would help farmers access cheap finance to rehabilitate and set up irrigation facilities to mitigate drought.
He said the land reform programme had become the cornerstone of food and nutrition security as the majority of Zimbabweans now have access to agricultural land.
“Government will continue to take measures that empower our farmers, especially small-holder farmers and women, so that they access cheap finance, knowledge on climate change and the environment, smart farming systems, infrastructure and farm machinery,’’ he said.
“As a nation we need to be self-sufficient and self-reliant.
“A nation that cannot feed itself is highly compromised and vulnerable.”
He said Zimbabwe’s focus on a food and nutrition security policy had its roots in the 1992-93 drought which was the worst in the country’s living memory.
The lessons learnt from the campaign to mitigate the effects of that drought pointed to the need for a permanent mechanism for responding to food and nutrition challenges facing the country, both in drought and non-drought years.
He said it was noted that the country needed a policy framework that facilitated the implementation of co-ordinated and multi-sectoral interventions to the country’s food and nutrition situation.
It was in this regard that the Government established the Inter-Sectoral Taskforce on Food and Nutrition in 1995, with the late Vice-President Simon Muzenda as chairman.
The taskforce then recommended the creation of a Food and Nutrition Council, a body which was subsequently set up through the Research Act in 2000.
“We pay tribute to Cde Muzenda for having established this technical body that is set to play a critical role in the implementation of the Food and Nutrition Security Policy,’’ said President Mugabe.
He highlighted that the goal of the Food and Nutrition Security Policy was to promote and ensure adequate food and nutrition security for all people at all times in Zimbabwe.
Labels: LAND REFORM, NEW FARMERS, ROBERT MUGABE
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Farmers partner with Mbada Diamonds
This article was written by Our reporter on 8 January, at 01 : 17 AM
MBADA Diamonds has partnered the Zimbabwe Farmers Union to equip families resettled at Arda Transau with farming skills and inputs as a way of making them self-sufficient, an official said yesterday.
As part of the deal, Mbada would secure inputs worth US$100 000 per year for the 100 resettled families while ZFU would train the farmers on sustainable farming methods.
Scores of families were resettled at Arda Transau Farm in 2010 to pave way for the miner to start operations at their former homes following the discovery of alluvial diamonds in the Marange area.
Mbada, Anjin, Marange Resources and Diamond Mining Company are some of the firms operating in the area.
Mbada corporate services executive George Manyaya told reporters that the main aim of the project is to ensure self-sustenance.
“The families have been relying on our food handouts so we expect to wean them once their productivity improves,” he said.
“We do not want to continue handing payouts to the families, so this is a long- term solution that will empower the affected families,” he said.
Manyaya said training of farmers started in December.
“ZFU agronomists are currently training the families in Mutare on the foundations of farming,” he said.
A ZFU official confirmed the partnership, and said the union had deployed agronomists to train and guide the farmers.
The official said ZFU was also selling the agriculture training programs to other mining companies.
“ZFU is also in the process of selling the same concepts to other leading miners in the country such as Zimplats, Unki and Mimosa,” said the official. — New Ziana.
Labels: MBADA DIAMONDS, NEW FARMERS, ZFU
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Farmers to sell fresh produce to Pick n Pay SA
Sunday, 16 December 2012 00:00
Hillary Munedzi
South Africa’s retail giant Pick n Pay, which recently acquired 49 percent interest in Zimbabwe’s TM supermarkets, said it is now providing a ready market for Zimbabwean farmers to sell fresh produce to Pick n Pay supermarkets in South Africa.
The remarks come at a time when Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa recently accused the retail giant of deliberately sabotaging the country’s agricultural sector by continuing to import fresh produce from South Africa and stocking its shelves with their finished products.
Mr Chinamasa said that sectors covering the wholesale, retail, distribution and fuel importation sector must be reserved for local investors.
He added that participation of foreign-owned entities in the domestic market will not add value to the economy, which is suffering from a ballooning import bill.
Speaking on the sidelines of the official opening of the Pick ‘n Pay supermarket at Westgate Shopping centre in Harare last week, managing director of TM Super Markets Mr Dave Mills said Pick n Pay will support the growth of the agricultural sector by selling local farm produce to South African supermarkets.
“The fruits and chickens are not exported from anywhere; they are 100 percent local and we will be selling fruits from Zimbabwe to South Africa Pick n Pay Supermarkets.
“We have already sold lychees to our Pick n Pay super markets in South Africa through the Kamfinsa supermarket and more Zimbabwean products could get into South African markets through this initiative,” said Mr Mills.
He also noted that a number of Pick n Pay branches will be opened, many of them at sites where TM supermarkets has been operating.
“The dual branding of TM supermarkets and Pick n Pay will go a long way in our market expansion initiative and it will add value to our products since TM supermarkets is a trusted brand,” he said.
He added that the supermarket will open other branches in Gweru, Masvingo and Bulawayo in the coming months. According to a Consumer Council of Zimbabwe survey report released recently, 85 percent of locally consumed goods were imported from neighbouring countries and this has remained unchanged over the past three years.
The value of trade between South Africa and Zimbabwe reached R19,2 billion last year.
South Africa, the biggest economy in Africa, is arguably the largest exporter to Zimbabwe, and many companies from that neighbouring country are currently operating in this country.
However, Zimbabwe has also stepped up trade relations with China.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, CONTRACT FARMING, NEOLIBERALISM, NEW FARMERS
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New farmers swell tobacco ranks
25/11/2012 00:00:00
by Roman Moyo
THE Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) says it has
registered more than 62,000 tobacco growers up from the
25,000 in the last season. TIMB Chief Executive Officer Andrew Matibiri said with grower numbers increasing, the focus was on now on improving the quality of the crop.
At least 80 percent of the registered growers are small scale farmers.
“Now that the number of farmers has increased we wish that farmer organisations really work with the growers and that includes us to ensure that farmers do not concentrate on the quantity of the crop but the quality,” said Matibiri.
Matibiri said so far, more than 19,000 hectares of land has been put under tobacco. Prices for the crop in the last season closed 34,2 percent firmer, averaging US$3,69 per kg compared to US$2,75 last year.
The Medium-Term Plan (MTP) had forecasted tobacco output at 180 million kg this year, which could not be achieved due to limited funding among other constraints.
Still, overall sales volumes for the season reached 144million kgs.
Tobacco production has continued to record steady recovery over the years but officials say the industry needs US$200 million in fresh capital to return to peak production levels of 237 million kg recorded in 2000. Labels: ANDREW MATIBIRI, NEW FARMERS, TIMB, TOBACCO
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Over 50 000 tobacco growers registered
Saturday, 03 November 2012 17:54
Faith Mhandu
Over 54 000 tobacco growers, almost double last year’s figure, have registered to grow the crop in the 2012-2013 agriculture season.
According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), growers’ registration increased by about 90 percent this year, an indication that the cash crop is gaining popularity amongst farmers.
“To date about 54 482 growers have registered for the 2012-2013 season compared to about 28 808 who had registered same period last year. At least 20 621 new growers have registered.
“Registration has closed although there is still room for late registration. However, late registration attracts a fine of US$10 until December 31 and US$40 from January 1, meaning farmers will pay US$20 and US$50 as penalty,” TIMB said.
Small-scale farmers prove to be driving the sector with over 40 000 registered growers being either A1 or communal farmers.
At least 43 percent of the registered growers are A1 while 39 percent are communal farmers.
The remainder is shared among small-scale commercial and A2 farmers with 10 percent and 8 percent respectively.
Mashonaland Central Province has the highest number of growers with 18 340 farmers having registered while Mashonaland West saw 15 820 farmers expressing their will to venture into the crop. Close to 1 000 growers have registered to grow Burley tobacco this season with the bulk being small-scale farmers.
TIMB said: “Burley tobacco remains popular among farmers in drier parts of the country and at least 993 farmers have registered to grow the crop this season.”
Of the nearly 30 000 farmers that grew the crop last year, about 142 million kg of tobacco was produced, raking in about US$189 million for the country.
Labels: NEW FARMERS, TIMB, TOBACCO
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COMMENT - So much for the estates being handed over to 'cronies of Mugabe'. There were 4,500 'white farmers' (landlords), now there are 49,000 tobacco growers. My only concern is that with the MDC controlled Finance Ministry prioritizing tobacco payments and not paying maize farmers on time, this represents a typical World Bank restructuring of the economy towards producing cash crops instead of staple crops, making the country dependent on food imports.
Tobacco farmers go up seven-fold
Friday, 12 October 2012 00:00
Elita Chikwati Agriculture Reporter
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has registered 49 000 growers to produce the crop in the 2012/13 summer season. The figure is seven times more than the total number of farmers who had registered to grow the golden leaf during the same period last year. Seven thousand growers had registered during the same period last year. The deadline for registration is October 31.
“Companies are also registering to contract farmers and the number may go up if all applicants are successful,” TIMB chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri said yesterday.
Dr Matibiri said 18 companies last year contracted farmers to grow the crop. He said the TIMB was still considering applications from six companies.
Meanwhile, farmers have intensified planting of tobacco since the opening of the planting season on September 1.
By end of September, 6 000 hectares of the crop had been planted compared to 5 000ha for the same period last year.
Dr Matibiri, however, bemoaned the absence of funding for the tobacco sector from both the private sector and Government.
Apart from the usual challenge of electricity, which is affecting irrigation, lack of funding has continued to affect tobacco farmers.
He said farmers were complaining of high input costs which he said were eroding farmers’ profits.
Tobacco has become the highest paying crop compared to maize, wheat and cotton.
Although the Grain Marketing Board offers competitive producer prices, the parastatal does not have ready cash to pay farmers like what is done to tobacco growers.
Cotton farmers last season registered huge losses as companies refused to increase prices to match the ones gazetted by Government.
Labels: NEW FARMERS, TIMB, TOBACCO
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COMMENT - Land reform is in full effect, and benefiting millions of people.
(NEWZIMBABWE) TIMB: 20,000 new farmers to grow tobacco
11/10/2012 00:00:00
by NewZiana
THE Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board says 50,418 farmers have so far registered to grow the golden leaf in the 2013 season, up from 25,466 farmers during the same period last year.
The figures show that at least 20,000 new farmers have been joined the tobacco sector for this season.
According to the data, the majority of tobacco farmers, at 21,865 are small-holder production (A1) farmers followed by nearly 20,000 communal farmers.
Nearly 5,000 small scale farmers have been registered while 3,730 commercial farm (A2) farmers have so far expressed interest in growing the crop.
In terms of seed sales, the figures show that over 8,100 kilogrammes of flue cured tobacco have been sold, up 25 percent compared to the same period last year.
The seeds will cover an estimated 135,623 hectares.
The data from the tobacco industry regulator shows that more farmers are turning to the golden leaf as it is more lucrative, with its marketing through the auction system or contract, better organised compared to other crops.
Analysts have since expressed concern that increasing interest in the golden leaf will affect production of other crops such as maize.
Tobacco production went up nine percent to 144.5 million kilogrammes in the 2012 marketing season which closed on Sept 28.
The crop was sold at a seasonal average price of US$3.65, a price which was 34 percent higher than the previous season.
Labels: A1 FARMERS, A2 FARMERS, NEW FARMERS, TIMB, TOBACCO
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COMMENT - From Prof. Ian Scoones' blog.
The golden leaf: boom time in Zimbabwe
July 9, 2012 · 9:06 am
Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry is booming once again. From the low point in 2008, at the peak of hyperinflation, when only 48m kg was sold, optimistic estimates for 2012 suggest that around 150m kg will be sold, with prices early in the selling season around 30% higher than last year.
Production levels are not back to the peak level in 2000 of 236m kg, but the trend is ever upwards, with sales rising from 65m to 123m to 132m kg between 2009 and 2011. In 2011, the sales generated around US$360m, helping to fuel the dramatic 34% growth in the agricultural sector in the past year. With the season not yet concluded over US$440m has been sold in 2012.
Once the almost exclusive preserve of around 3000 large-scale white farmers, tobacco is now being produced and sold by around 60000 black farmers from the new A1 and A2 resettlement areas. With average sales of around 10 bales per farmer, this will result in an income of around US$5000 – no mean sum in Zimbabwean terms. And of course tobacco creates employment along the value chain, as well as tax revenues.
This is one of the really unexpected success stories of the land reform. While many accepted that small-scale A1 farmers with larger areas of land could engage in successful staple production and ‘accumulate from below’, as we described across our sample areas in Masvingo, for new farmers to participate so successfully in the high value export industry of tobacco farming was seen as unlikely. Most had written off the industry, expecting it to atrophy and die.
But contrary to expectations, the tobacco industry has been transformed, from the farms to the auction floors. A whole new set of people are involved. It is not only the farmers who have changed, but also the labourers, the buyers and the financiers. Women are increasingly involved, particularly in the processing, sorting and auction-floor activities. White farmers are still involved too in the high quality/high cost end of the industry, in a few farms remaining under their control, but also in lease arrangements with A2 farmers, who needed the skills and expertise for the production of top quality flue cured Virginia.
New contracting arrangements have emerged to support smaller scale farmers grow tobacco. Contracting reputedly resulted in the production of 34m kg in 2011, out of the total of 132m. Some major new entrants have emerged in the market, notably those with Chinese connections. Tianze, for example, has around 250 growers linked to it. Overall there are around 13 contract companies operating, as well as multiple smaller scale leasing and other arrangements.
It is this financing aspect that has been critical for the dramatic growth of the small-scale sector. This has allowed farmers to invest in inputs, and the rate of refusal has declined, and overall quality has increased. Chinese contract companies, loan facilities and other forms of finance have transformed the system. More traditional players, from the western based companies and other commercial lenders, are now re-engaging knowing that there is money to be made.
There are downsides of the tobacco economy, of course. Curing is largely carried out using local fuelwood sources, and the impact on forests and woodland resources has been high. A more sustainable source of fuel will clearly be necessary. Equally, the high labour demands have resulted in accusations of child labour on the farms, flouting labour laws and undermining child rights. These of course were core issues when white farms took on tobacco as a core crop some decades ago, and will hopefully only be transitional challenges.
For the longer term, the tobacco story in the last five years has some important lessons for the wider agrarian transition. While tobacco is not a crop appropriate everywhere (and is not significant in our study areas in Masvingo, for instance), there are some more generic insights worth noting. First, A2 farmers, who have really struggled elsewhere including in Masvingo with poor production due to low capitalisation and investment, can make it under the right circumstances.
Second, markets are key, but so is support to engage in markets. It is not just price levels, demand and supply, but up-front investment, skill development and knowledge building about quality control and market niches. Third, finance is vital; and that’s where Chinese finance and contracting arrangements become critical. Fourth, there are definitely roles for white farmers with skills and capacities in a particular commodity area, but probably involving engagement in different ways, at the high end of the market.
Hopefully the lessons from the tobacco transition can be applied to other aspects of the agricultural economy, leveraging finance, expertise and market access for the benefits of a larger group of people than the previously narrow, privileged large-farm sector.
Labels: NEW FARMERS, TOBACCO
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Women farmers form trust
Sunday, 08 July 2012 01:31
Elita Chikwati
Senior Reporter
WOMEN farmers have formed a trust to address challenges affecting them in the agricultural sector. The
Zimbabwe Indigenous Women Farmers Trust was formed in February this year after realisation that women were failing to use land due to limited resources. ZIWFT president, Mrs Depinah Nkomo said the bulk of farmers in the country were women but they lacked adequate resources to boost yields. “Women have been having difficulties accessing inputs. “They do not have collateral and lack farm machinery,” she said.
Mrs Nkomo said women farmers were also affected by mobility challenges as they have problems transporting inputs to the farmer and produce to the market.
“Through the trust, women are going to speak with one voice and mobilise funds for agricultural production,” she said.
Mrs Nkomo said the trust had members from the communal, A1, A2 and commercial sectors.
The executive members are Mrs Grace Gatula (vice president), Mrs Catherine Mudzimiri, Mrs Lina Mangoro and Maud Mapedzamombe.
Labels: NEW FARMERS
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A dairy farmer par excellence
Thursday, 09 February 2012 00:00
Fortious Nhambura Features Writer
"I had to quit my job to focus on my passion - dairy farming - and I had to make a tough decision that meant relocating from the bright lights of the city to the farm," said Mr Lovemore Mugabe as he supervised the afternoon milking session of his 350 dairy cows.
Located about 50km west of Hwedza Centre, Magure Farm has lived to become a testimony of hard work and perseverance. It is a clear example of what a Zimbabwean can do when presented with an opportunity.
In the past, dairy farming was an elitist activity restricted mostly to white farmers, people like Mr Mugabe have helped to disabuse this thinking that large- scale dairy farming is for the rich.
Mr Mugabe's decision to leave a thriving transport business has not led him to a dead end but has helped in improving his social and economic life in a big way.
Starting with less than 20 commercial dairy cows in 2002, Mr Mugabe has grown to establish a herd of 900 cattle with a total of 350 cows going under the milk shed, 400 being heifers and the remainder comprising dry cows.
He got the Magure Farm under the land redistribution programme, moving from a small plot in the same area.
Immediately he sought to improve the operations at the farm as an example to other farmers in the area.
"I started by improving the working conditions of my workers because one will never be successful with a hostile workforce. I took everything within my stride since money was not readily available.
"I took the opportunity because dairy farming is my passion. This is now my everyday life. That's why I relocated with my family from Marondera to this farm. At first it was difficult convincing my wife and children but they are now solidly behind me. This business does not need ‘cellphone farmers'.
"I started small but picked up over the years. From a small herd of 13, my herd has grown to over 900 cattle. The herd consists of Holsteins and Jerseys and milking short cows."
Mr Mugabe said business was affected during the hyperinflationary period and only started picking up in 2010. He said "cellphone farming" was not ideal for any type of farming.
"The business requires the presence of the farmer for proper monitoring of animals and milking otherwise the investment will be lost.
"Mind you, dairy farming is a capital-intensive project. Just like any other businesses you need to be seriously involved with the entire production line otherwise you will not survive for long.
"That is all it takes to be a successful farmer. In fact, this is true for any field one might be in," Mr Mugabe said.
His "never-say-die" attitude has rewarded him handsomely. For his efforts, Mr Mugabe has already scooped the Nestle Milk Producer of the Year twice, in 2005 and 2010, beating a host of others including established white farmers, in recognition of his hard work.
Mr Mugabe produces 800 000 litres of milk a month.
On the farm, Mr Mugabe does not only focus milk production, he is also into cash crops to feed the nation and capital assets to finance occasional expenditure.
He produces the bulk of the stockfeed on the farm as grazing alone will not bring the desired production quality hence the need for supplementary feeding.
"The animals need good and sufficient food to remain healthy and productive. As such, I always give supplements during the wet season and silage during the drier months.
"I have 103 hectares of maize that we process for silage to feed the livestock, food for the family and workers.
"I have a full complement of workers divided into six categories that include fields, veterinary services, milkmen, herdboys, security and machinery," he said.
Specialisation of duties has enabled his workers to concentrate on their different sections and produce the best results.
"Imagine when you have to milk the cows twice a day, that requires a lot of manpower," he said.
Mr Mugabe said there was no way one could be involved in animal production and have nothing to do with crop productions.
Over the years he has strived to improve the quality of milk from his farm.
For him, maintaining good quality requires maintaining standards within the milk production line.
"The prices of milk are favourable but every farmer must always seek to produce a better quality product. We are getting US$0,45c per litre but there is 25 percent premium for good butter quality. So one can get above US$0,70c if he gets his quality right and if one does not get these premiums, the overheads will bring him down," Mr Mugabe said.
Through the assistance of Nestle Zimbabwe, Mr Mugabe was able to expand his byre to milk 24 cows at a time.
He said Nestle was playing a major role in reviving the dairy industry through financing of mechanisation and improvement of farmers' herd.
"We have not set on laurels. We are working together as dairy farmers in the area to ensure that we improve milk production. We always meet to discuss production quality and hygiene.
"To ensure we improve our herd, we always sell heifers amongst ourselves. The aim is to ensure that all dairy farmers in the area have high yield cows," he added.
Just like others dairy farmers, Mr Mugabe's biggest worry is the erratic electricity supply.
He said: "Our biggest worry is the persistent power outages, but I believe this is a national problem. Zesa used to give us schedules for loadshedding but not any more. We used to have four days of power per week but this is now distorted.
"Consequently we have to rely on two high powered generators to power the milking machines and cool storage tanks but at a huge cost. The generators have a capacity of 1000kva."
Mr Mugabe urged other farmers to work together with police to curb stock theft.
Owing to the good rapport with the community, he has not recorded theft over the past eight years.
With the country's dairy herd estimated below 40 000, down from a peak of 192 000 in 1992, it is the work of people like Mr Mugabe that can lead the revival of dairy farming.
According to statistics from the National Association of Dairy Farmers, Zimbabwe's milk production rose from about 3,6 million litres a month to 4,6 million last year.
Capacity utilisation among dairy processors is below 30 percent owing to reduction in farm production.
The Zimbabwean dairy industry is aiming to improve milk production from the current 50 million litres to over 200 million litres annually over the next five years.
Labels: A2 FARMERS, DAIRY, NEW FARMERS
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COMMENT - The MDC is trying to sabotage the Zimbabwe people's advancement at every turn. Defunding agriculture and national defense, and now trying to reverse the land reform program by underhand means, using their control of local councils. They stand for continued dependency and control of the Zimbabwean people and their resources, including their land. In this 21st century, we are still fighting colonialism.
Resettled farmers, authorities clash in Masvingo
Monday, 23 January 2012 00:00
Masvingo Bureau
HUNDREDS of resettled farmers allocated land on the periphery of Masvingo city are angry over a new master plan for the city which will encroach into their farms. The farmers have since
accused Masvingo council of trying to covertly reverse the land reform programme by drawing up a master plan that will
incorporate most of the farms where people were resettled under the land reform programme.They are now urging government to stop council from effecting the master plan that they claim will leave them without farming land. Council last week said the master plan was a legal requirement for any city in Zimbabwe and its implementation will continue.
Co-ordinator for Masvingo Wildlife Conservancy Mr Isaiah Muzenda accused council authorities of trying to use the master plan to expropriate land from resettled farmers.
He said resettled farmers will resist any attempts to use the master plan to take their land.
"We are worried about the so called master plan which we understand has already designated most farms where people were resettled to fall under Masvingo city council," said Muzenda.
"We view the drawing of that master plan as an attempt to reverse the land reform programme by earmarking our farms for future urban expansion, we will resist any attempts to confiscate our farms."
Muzenda said the adoption of the new master plan will be an attempt to derail the land reform programme and destroy thriving peri-urban farming that had improved the food availability situation in Masvingo city. Masvingo mayor Alderman Femius Chakabuda said the new master plan was a legal requirement which every city across Zimbabwe was mandated to have.
He said the new master plan had not yet been adopted, adding that council was still consulting.
"The master plan is a legal requirement that we must have as a city and we are not targeting anyone," said Alderman Chakabuda.
"People will have their chance to input what they want to be in the master plan, where they want their city to grow to into the future. If there are some who have problems with the master plan they will have an opportunity to raise objections.
"We anticipate that the master plan will only be ready by December this year."
Alderman Chakabuda said council was still consulting all the relevant stakeholders before coming up with the master plan, saying there was no need for anyone to panic.
"The truth of the matter is that the city should grow and when the city grows it means new cemeteries will be built so are new houses and that needs land," he said.
Masvingo city council is drawing up a new master plan after the one it used for the last five years expired.
Labels: A1 FARMERS, LAND REFORM, MASVINGO, MDC CORRUPTION, NEW FARMERS
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War vets fight Mohadi over farm
05/01/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
POLICE in Beitbridge have arrested eight suspects, including two war veterans, for allegedly vandalising property at co-Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi’s farm in Beitbridge west.
Given Mbedzi, his mother Philani Ndou, Soforia Ndou, Jameson Mbedzi and Alifa Mbedzi, who won plot at Jopembe Lot 9 farm, are accused of tampering with locks on one of the structures at the property.
The suspects, who have a long-standing dispute with the Zanu PF minister over some plots adjacent to his farm, were arrested at the farm last weekend and charged with malicious damage to property.
The dispute appears to have triggered by the fact that Mohadi’s son, Campbell Junior was in 2009 given an offer letter for a farm that had been allocated to Given Mbedzi in 2003. The minister’s son was reportedly issued the plot after Mbedzi allegedly abandoned it.
Meanwhile, trial of the case however, failed to take off at the Beitbridge magistrates’ court on Wednesday and was referred to the Gwanda provincial magistrates’ courts on the instruction of Matabeleland South area prosecutor, Blessing Gundani.
The group was further detained at Beitbridge main police station pending transfer to Gwanda for trial on Thursday.
Lawyers however said the group would deny the charges and argue, instead, that the case is part of ongoing attempts by Mohadi to force them off their plots.
Philemon Marubini Ndou, Ignatius Ncube and Knowledge Muleya, who are employees of Mbedzi, are also accused of cutting a 5 km stretch of fence, which the Minister had reportedly erected at his property.
They are out on $30 bail each and will jointly appear with the rest of the group at the Gwanda magistrates’ court.
Soforia Ndou is also facing charges of stock theft, after she is alleged to have cut a piece of fence from the same farm which resulted in several head of cattle straying. The stock remains unaccounted for.
Labels: KEMBO MOHADI, LAND REFORM, NEW FARMERS, WAR VETERANS
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Farmers ditch maize for tobacco
27/10/2011 00:00:00
by IRIN
SMALE-SCALE farmers are favouring tobacco over maize because they are paid immediately on delivery, while the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) often takes months to pay for the staple, say some small-scale farmers.
The country has suffered consistent bouts of food insecurity since 2000 after the government implemented its fast track land reform which saw thousands of white farmers displaced, often violently, to make way for landless black Zimbabweans.
Tobacco production - a major foreign currency earner - plummeted from 237 million kg in 2000 to 49 million kilograms in 2008.
Production has since recovered and the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) said 132 million kg was auctioned in 2011.
The profile of tobacco farmers has changed in the last decade. Prior to 2000, 1,500 of the then about 4,500 commercial farmers produced 97 percent of the tobacco delivered to sales floors, while other commercial farmers generally shunned maize production because of price controls - which remain - and opted for cash crops such as paprika, cut flowers and cotton, while growing yellow maize for stock feed.
Cereal production for food security before 2000 was largely the domain of small farmers who benefited from the sophisticated agricultural input system which supported commercial farmers and were able to easily source cheap fertiliser and seeds. The disruption of commercial farming activities also saw the collapse of the country’s agricultural industry.
ZTA's chief executive officer, Rodney Ambrose, told IRIN 67,000 tobacco growers - resettled on former white farmland - registered in 2011, of which only about 17,000 were considered large growers, including 300 white farmers still active in the sector, and that by and large the quality of tobacco delivered to the auction floors was “very good”.
Samuel Chizemo, a new tobacco farmer in Karoi about 150km north of Harare, told IRIN more farmers were opting to grow tobacco in place of maize, because of GMB delays in payment, although some was grown for personal consumption.
“Tobacco is a cash crop and unlike other crops which are delivered to the GMB we get paid cash on delivery,” he said and estimated he earned about US$8,000 from his tobacco crop this year and was paid promptly.
Some farmers, he said, were forced to sell the maize to third parties at a lower price than the controlled price of US$285 a ton, so it was the middlemen that profited from the grain, who could afford to wait for payment from the marketing board.
The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) said in its September 2011 factsheet that about 1.68 million people would require emergency food assistance during the lean season, from January to April 2012. This was a 12 percent decline from the previous year for the same period.
Chizemo is one of 36 small-scale farmers working six hectare divisions of formerly white-owned farmland which was redistributed in 2001. They are all cultivating tobacco as contract farmers.
This year the average price of tobacco per kg was $2.73, slightly lower than the previous year of US$2.89.
Hard beginnings
Initially, Zimbabwe’s hyperinflationary environment - which was effectively ended through the scrapping of the local currency and its replacement in 2009 with the US dollar, Botswana pula and South African rand - financial difficulties, and the farmers’s inexperience of growing and curing tobacco hamstrung their first attempts in 2003.
“Besides us not having the know-how, it is a very expensive crop to grow,” Chizemo said.
Irrigation systems were also removed by the evicted farmer, which limited the area under cultivation, as the new farmers had to carry drums of water from a nearby river to ensure the crops did not wither in the early stages.
The refusal of banks to grant loans to the new farmers because of concerns over the security of land ownership saw the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) petition President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF government in 2004 to permit tobacco companies to offer farmers contracts whereby the necessary inputs, such as fertilizer and chemicals, were provided ahead of the planting season.
Under the contract agreement the farmers must sell to an agreed auctioneer until they have paid the loan for the inputs and are then free to sell the surplus to whoever they choose.
New farmers were also offered advice, assisted in the paying of wage bills and in some cases supplied with food. However, it was the scrapping of the local currency, which saw tobacco's renaissance.
“Tobacco growing is making a big difference to our lives,” Thomas Gwata, 28, from the Nyazura area east of Harare, who started tobacco farming in 2006 on a formerly white-owned farm that was subdivided among 65 small farmers, who made thousands of dollars from this year’s crop.
The farmers also lack access to a curing facility.
“The farmer who took over the farm infrastructure does not allow us to use the [curing] barn as he says it’s on his land,” he told IRIN.
“He is a cellphone farmer”, a term describing new farmers who received land, but are employed elsewhere and conduct their farming activities by calling their workers on cellphones.
Gwata and his fellow small-scale farmers built their own curing barn, but it was not as efficient as the barn constructed by the former white farmer.
Tree-felling
Without a coal supplier the tobacco farmers have resorted to tree-felling to get fuel for tobacco curing. “This is causing serious deforestation but we really do not have a choice,” he said.
“We have the land but we are not benefiting enough; agriculture is the driver of our economy so government should seriously look into putting money into the sector,” said Gwata. That may not happen any time soon though as the government remains cash-strapped.
TIMB chief executive officer Andrew Matibiri said the new farmers had also yet to come to grips with the tobacco industry systems, including notification of how much of the product they intended to grow.
“Some farmers are not aware of this and just bring their crop to the already overcrowded three auction floors in Harare which were designed for 4,000 growers,” he said.
However, Matibiri said the sector was being rejuvenated.
“Besides earning the country much needed foreign currency, tobacco is now benefiting thousands of families rather than the small minority who grew it before.”
He forecast that tobacco production could grow to 350 million kg annually in three to four years - provided there was adequate financial support - thanks to demand from the European Union and China, which each purchase about 40 percent of the country's tobacco crop.
Labels: ANDREW MATIBIRI, GRAIN MARKETING BOARD ZIMBABWE, MAIZE, NEW FARMERS, TOBACCO, ZTA
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AgriTrade unveils package for communal farmers
Friday, 21 October 2011 00:00
Elita Chikwati recently in the MIDLANDS
A commercial lending company, AgriTrade has unveiled a facility to stimulate trade in the communal areas through facilitating funding for agribusiness dealers.
AgriTrade is working in partnership with banks on the facility that involves financing of agro-dealers that deal with communal farmers.
AgriTrade provides
technical assistance in drawing up business plans and proposals. Under the scheme agro-dealers apply for loans ranging from US$500 to US$200 000 which would be paid at an interest of 11 percent over 12 months. AgriTrade communications officer, Mrs Maggie Mzumara said the organisation was aiming at facilitating markets for communal farmers.
"The funding of agro-dealers will ensure they have more disposable cash to buy farm produce from communal farmers thereby benefiting the farmer," she said. Some of the dealers, who have benefited from the facility trade in grains, operate butcheries while others are into processing of agro produce.
Mrs Mzumara said that besides facilitating trade in the communal areas, the programme helped people in drought prone areas to get food.
"Some of the traders buy grain from areas of supply to areas of deficit and this helps to ensure food security," she said. A number of beneficiaries said they had recorded increase in business since they started getting loans from the financial institutions.
Chegutu beneficiary, Mr Clifford Mukungugwa, who trades in grains could not buy grain from farmers in large amounts due to cash constraints.
"Local banks are not willing to give us affordable money especially when there is no collateral," he said.
"After receiving a loan of US$15 000 I was able to buy more grain from farmers and pay them instantly," he said. Trust Bank regional manager Mr Gerald Zhou said his the bank had disbursed US$800 000 towards the facility since April this year.
"The funds are aimed at customers trading in rural areas to boost trade. Without these agro-dealers, many will take advantage of farmers and offer unviable prices for their produce," he said. Mr Zhou said the programme also provided ready markets, liquidity and knowledge on markets in the rural areas."We want to bring more investment to the rural areas and improve from barter trade and empower communal farmers as they are able to detect prices for their commodities," he said.
AgriTrade is under the Zim-Agricultural Income and Employment Development Programme sponsored by the USAID.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, NEW FARMERS
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Tobacco growing drives economy
Saturday, 08 October 2011 23:14 Agriculture
by Diana Muringisi
TOBACCO contributes immensely to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) through exports and employment creation and it also plays a big role in improving Zimbabwean people’s livelihoods.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made said the financial sector should assist this pivotal segment of the economy. In a speech read on his behalf by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr Ngoni Masoka, at the 2011 Tobacco Sales Floor Tobacco Growers’ Awards, the minister said the occasion was to celebrate excellence in tobacco production and marketing.
“The tobacco industry is a major employer starting from production, processing and marketing and plays a big role on people’s livelihoods in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“It is therefore important to celebrate excellence in tobacco production and marketing to mark the end of yet another successful marketing season.”
The minister called for the resolution of all inconveniences currently dogging the marketing of the crop.
He highlighted congestion as one of the major challenges which should be resolved by decentralising some of the services offered to farmers by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) and the auction houses.
“Services such as the ones offered by auction houses and the TIMB should be carried out closer to the farming communities. The entry of many new farmers to the production of the crop has only compounded these challenges. There is therefore a strong need to resolve these challenges to avoid discouraging the efforts of the numerous A1 and A2 resettled farmers who are trying to make a living through the growing of the crop and contribute to the national income. I am glad that the TIMB and TSF have now established regional offices to achieve precisely this objective,” he noted.
Dr Made called for consistent pricing throughout the selling season, to avoid the congestion associated with the beginning of the season, as farmers rush to beat the mid-season price crash, which characterised the past two selling seasons.
“Government would like to implore the tobacco merchants to be consistent with pricing throughout the selling season, so as to avoid congestion that tends to be associated with the start of the tobacco-selling season,” he said.
He went on to call upon the banking sector to extend loan facilities to tobacco growers so as to facilitate means within which an increase of production can be fostered.
“Government is fully aware of the challenges being experienced in the tobacco sector, ranging from funding of production, adequate knowledge of growing the crop, price distortions and farmer inconveniences associated with the marketing of tobacco,” he said.
“Beneficiaries of such assistance should repay loans to establish a sound working relationship with the banking institutions.”
Agriculture contributed 33,9 percent, while mining contributed 47 percent to the economic growth last year. Minister Made congratulated the Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) for re-introducing the Tobacco Grower of the Year Competition.
This promotion, the minister said, will go a long way in assisting newly resettled and budding tobacco farmers to realise more from their efforts.
Prices for the winners included two tractors, a grinding mill, two big generators and an assortment of general agriculture as well as tobacco handling and curing equipment and inputs.
Dr Made said the prizes were appropriate inputs, tools and equipment which are going to enhance productivity and overall income-earning capacity of the beneficiaries.
Dr Made said he looked forward to a bigger and better competition in years to come and that other players in the tobacco industry were going to close ranks with TSF to achieve this objective.
Senior advisor to the Reserve Bank Governor Dr Munyaradzi Kereke won this year’s Tobacco Grower of the Year award in the commercial sector.-The Sunday Mail
Labels: JOSEPH MADE, NEW FARMERS, TOBACCO
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COMMENT - The Black New Farmers are going gangbusters, despite the destruction of the national currency by economic sanctions (ZDERA), despite sabotaging and underfunding of agriculture by Tendai Biti and the MDC. This is not the result of the return of any Rhodesian farmers either, because that hasn't happened. It is simply because of good rains and the stabilisation of the currency. And the key to agriculture in Zimbabwe and the entire region - irrigation. Output in numbers:
MAIZE (metric tonnes)
2008 400,000
2011 1,500,000
TOBACCO (kg)
2008 34mn
2011 174mn
That's the stabilisation of the currency and rains. Not the return of rhodesian farmers, which did not happen.
New farmers doing well: Biti
Friday, 07 October 2011 00:00
Herald Reporter
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti on Wednesday acknowledged that new farmers were doing well with production of most agricultural produce increasing since 2008. He said this while responding to a question by Mt Darwin East legislator, Cde Betty Chikava (Zanu-PF) on what Government was doing to pay farmers for grain delivered to the GMB.
"In 2008 the maize production was 400 000 metric tonnes but in 2011 the production of maize stands at 1,5 million metric tonnes and
could have been 1,7 million metric tonnes but because of the . . . drought between December 2010 and January 2011 we lost 11 percent of hectarage.
"The second crop is tobacco. In 2008 we produced 34 million kg and in 2011 our expected delivery will be 174 million kg and as I stand here 134 million kg have been delivered. In fact, with all the crops and livestock in Zimbabwe there has been a fundamental increase in production between 2008 and 2011 with the exception of two crops, tea and coffee. Even milk has risen to 94 million litres although this is still below the over 200 million that we need," he said.
[And that is just from restauration of the currency. This gives you a stark picture of the extent of the damage that economic sanctions like ZDERA have done to the economy. And destruction of the currency is just one of the effects of the credit freeze has had on the Zimbabwean economy. - MrK]
Zimbabwe, he added, was set to meet its target of 500 000 tonnes of strategic grain reserves due to increased deliveries to GMB.
Minister Biti said Government had spent US$1,9 billion on agriculture since 2008, adding that they are also crafting an input scheme for vulnerable groups and large scale and A2 farmers this farming season.
Government had released US$10 million to pay farmers that have delivered grain but part of the money they are owed would be offset by inputs.
"What we have done is that we are gathering inputs to the tune of US$30 million and a farmer can liquidate his indebtedness with seed and fertiliser. But we will be able to pay any cent we owe by December 31 in the year of our Lord 2011," he said.
Minister Biti, however, took a swipe at the GMB for having a large salary bill that is chewing US$10 million a month. The parastatal would soon be unbundled into two companies dealing with collection of the strategic grain reserve and the other commercial activities.
Minister Biti, however, said the long term solution to ensure that farmers are paid on time was to have a commodity exchange.
********
comments:
So what - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 04:53 AM
He will be arm twisted into reversing it. They will freeze his acconts if he doesnt, all that money they gave him
Jambanja pa Salisbury - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 06:17 AM
That's good, they are doing well....but are they doing well enough, i.e. optimising land use? We want real statistics here, like productive land previously held by whites farmers now owned by blackfarmers', productivity per hectare then (note not prodcution), land under utilisation then, volume of agric exports then, volume of agric imports then, etc, etc and then we compare like for like to see whether they are doing better than their yesteryear farmer or comparatively better than their past selves! Do not forget to take stock of land allocated but not occupied, absentee farmers, I mean! That way we will be able to assess for ourselves whether the figures mentioned have meaning or not!
Now, turning to GMB and Biti's proposal. The parastatal like you rightly say, needs complete overhaul and purging it of dead wood! The most beautiful and practical way you proposed is the commodity exchange, farmers have a much higher likelihood of getting realistic value for their crops! Apa Biti wabaya dede nemukanwa....all farmers should campaign and vote for you as they are poised to earn more income should you be in full charge! Hahahahah ...............Laugh the Beloved Country.
NICHOLAS - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 01:14 PM
Listen who is talking! An MDC-T MINISTER. Am i dreaming? I thought President Mugabe's land reforms were a total failure with food production going down every year. I thought we can not go ahead with our indegenisation policies because just like the land reforms, these will also fail
Vana Biti na Tsvangison wenyu. Musatambe na Gushungo, murume uya ane inonzi vission from the heavens. He is our nation's Moses, and will deliver us from the jaws of collonial bondage which has now reached a critical economic stage. What is independence when you cannot control your own resources???
Fellow Zimbabweans, please take note of what the HON Minister have said. It may be useful in your decisions in the polls which are just around the conner!!!
TruthHurts! - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 01:49 PM
Aaarrrggghhhh, and the above is coming from Biti??????? You are not serious!!! Biti and his numerous ploys aimed at destroying black farmers efforts to provide for the country need no introduction here and yet here he is marvelling at how regardless of his saboteur tactics the same farmers are excelling at proving the wise words of President Mugabe that : Zimbabwe is an agricultural country and Zimbabweans are natural farmers, hence it is through agriculture that we will turn around the economy!!! Zimbabweans will win this one whether the sellouts and their masters like it or not and our country will attain the breadbasket status it has long enjoyed that first came with the govt of President Mugabe in 1980 and not what some re-writers of history want us to believe that the breadbasket status was there during the days of Rhodesia!!!
Mutauri WeChokwadi - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 02:43 PM
The Land reform is irreversible, we have gone through the difficult part..the last 10 yrs.
Now we are on the growth stage and there is no stopping Zimbabweans.
Who said we must whoever be hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the white master?
Gushungo titungamirirei tiende mberi
Labels: GRAIN MARKETING BOARD ZIMBABWE, LAND REFORM, MDC, NEW FARMERS, TENDAI BITI
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