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ZIMBABWE needs to create strong agricultural value chains to sustain industrial growth through establishment of opportunities for processing, value addition and beneficiation, the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) has said.

Agriculture remains the backbone of the country’s economy with experts saying more needs to be done to increase productivity in the sector and unlock more downstream opportunities.

ZAS chief executive officer, Dr Anxious Jongwe Masuka, says capacitating farmers should form the core of a robust agrarian revolution, which should inform industrialisation in the country.

“Strong agricultural value chains should lead to the establishment of opportunities for processing, value addition and beneficiation, as raw material supply in requisite quantities can be guaranteed at affordable prices that make industry competitive,” he said.

“The production of quality, affordable and regionally competitive goods and services leads to job and wealth creation, service sector growth, and an increased contribution to the fiscus. It spurs development of strong procurement and supply networks, encourages consumption of local goods and services, and ultimately leads to economic development.”

Zimbabwe is facing an acute foreign exchange shortage, which is impacting negatively on industrial production as more companies depend on imported raw materials.

Due to relatively low agricultural production, the country spends about $200 million per year importing soya bean for cooking oil making. While maize production has improved, the country still imports wheat flour among other cereals as well as feed and other processed products.

Dr Masuka stressed the need for famers to harness innovation and creativity in order to keep evolving new and improving efficiencies, reducing costs while increasing profitability on a more sustainable basis. He said farming was a business hence farmer capacitation was critical.

He urged farmers to use superior seed and livestock genetics, adopt newer agronomy and management methods while ensuring more investment in irrigation and water management systems to mitigate and adapt to ever changing and increasingly drier environments.

Dr Masuka believes the push-pull effect of a strong agricultural base will feed into a sound industry, with available discerning markets for competitively priced quality goods and services.

This will spur industrial growth, he added, and lead to higher incomes, increased employment, increased taxes and fiscal contribution and faster, development and rapid economic growth.

“Industry will be the destination of agricultural products, while providing agriculture with tractors and implements, seeds and fertiliser, chemicals and herbicides, while a whole new service industry can then thrive to provide banking, information communication technology, and government services,” said Dr Masuka.

He said an agriculture-led growth strategy must be implemented and called for a deliberate thrust towards facilitation and promotion of local agricultural and industrial production, local procurement, local supply and local consumption of good and services.

“It is in this context that the envisaged local content policy and strategy must be viewed as an accelerator for industry capacity development and increased capacity utilisation, reindustrialisation, enhanced research and development and much needed economic growth.

“These national matters deserve our untrammelled support in order for Zimbabwe to quickly rebound, thrive and prosper,” said Dr Masuka.

Meanwhile, ZAS has unveiled its 2018 theme “Field to Industry: Produce. Connect. Develop”, which buttresses this year’s focus on consolidating and deepening value chains and linkages. Establishment of strong value chains dovetails with Government’s Zim-Asset beneficiation and value addition cluster objectives.

Business member organisations are all agreed that the value chain and sector based approach are tools to link our strong agricultural roots with the potential that industry has in terms of the economic multiplier effect, said Dr Masuka.