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Cde Patrick Chinamasa

Harare Bureau
ALMOST $1 billion has been poured into agriculture in the 2013/2014 season to support crop and livestock production as Zimbabwe works to reclaim its status as the bread basket of southern Africa. The collapse of the inclusive Government following Zanu-PF’s resounding election victory seemed to have unlocked the funding streams as Government yesterday announced a $161 million support to agriculture on top of the $620 million that the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe and $100 million that the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe pumped into the sector last week.

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday announced the $161 million, which he said would be for the Government’s input support programme targeting a total of 1,6 million communal, old resettled, small scale (former purchase areas) and A1 farmers.

Minister Chinamasa made the announcement in Harare during a Press conference also attended by Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made, following agreements at Cabinet on supporting farmers in particular and agriculture in general.

He said the basic input package would comprise 10 kilogrammes maize/small grain seed, 50kg compound D fertiliser, 50kg Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer and 50kg lime to improve the quality of the soil.

The initiative resonates well with Zanu- PF’s pledge in the run up to the 31 July harmonised elections to support farmers, grow and develop agriculture once elected into office. To that end, $157,9 million would go towards finance production and or importation of inputs with $39 084 000 for seed, $50 483 500 for compound D fertiliser, $56 997 500 for AN fertiliser and $11 399 500 for lime.

Minister Chinamasa said $530 000 would go towards the rehabilitation of the District Development Fund while $2,6 million has been earmarked to improve the handling capacity of the Grain Marketing Board.

But in implementing the programme Minister Chinamasa said the Government was cognisant of the need to clear outstanding payments to input manufacturers for last year’s supplies.

“Hence, in addition to the input support programme, it is critical that attention is given to outstanding payments to input suppliers which stand at $11,8 million arising from previous seasons.”

The Government would then disburse a total of $40 million towards the fertiliser manufacturers for supplies required under the 2013/14 season agriculture input support programme. Minister Chinamasa said that Government had also secured $120 million private sector support for production of inputs by seed and fertiliser firms, which may need to augment with imports.

He added that the Food and Agriculture Organisation in partnership with other donors had indicated readiness to partner Government with a $19,25 million contribution targeting 77 800 farmers.

Minister Made said the 2013/14 season was the last season where Government would provide direct input support to farmers as focus would now turn to subsidising manufacturers to lower input costs.

“For a long time we have been saying subsidising the manufacturers is the preferred form because it assists us as we would not to be involved in the day to day allocation of inputs to farmers.

“If we subsidise the manufacturers of inputs to lower the cost of production the farmers will be able to purchase the inputs on their own. (Also) if the farmers are paid timeously they will at least be able to purchase their own inputs and that is how farming should be,” said Minister Made.

He said Cabinet agreed at Tuesday’s meeting that going forward the real anchor will be mechanisation and irrigation development to mitigate difficulties in terms of the staple crop, maize. As such focus will be on developing full scale and supplementary irrigation for winter cropping.

Discussions are still in progress with the banking sector on how A2 and commercial farmers can be assisted amid indications that most agricultural financing facilities are being finalised.

“At the moment we have not yet concretised support to A2 farmers, but obviously some of them will make their own arrangements but we would like this arrangement to be more concrete so that banks tell us specifically what they will put to agriculture,” Minister Chinamasa said.