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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
LEADING personal care and agro-processing firm, United Refineries Limited (URL), together with its strategic partners, yesterday launched a $30 million soya bean outgrowers’ alliance scheme to boost the crop’s output.

This comes amid acute shortages of cooking oil in the country due to limited availability of foreign currency required to import soya bean, a major ingredient for production of edible oils. Soya bean is one of the key raw materials URL requires to produce cooking oil and stock feeds.

Responding to questions during a press conference at the company’s plant in Bulawayo, URL chief executive officer, Mr Busisa Moyo, said in the initial phase of their soya bean outgrowers scheme, they targeted 7 500 hectares.

“Our first year target is 7 500 ha of soya bean but it’s an ongoing journey for the next six to eight years where we would like to at least have farmers that are linked to us under this programme that will see us bringing in 50 000 tonnes,” he said.

The giant manufacturing firm has a capacity to process 72 000 tonnes per annum.

“Our target is 25 000ha under this soya bean outgrowers’ alliance and we have just started the journey. This is an alliance so all of us (strategic partners) are investing into this programme so if you’re looking at 25 000ha as your final at a cost per hectare of $1 300, then you’re looking at somewhere in the region of $30 million as being the final investment that will be made,” said Mr Moyo.

He said they were looking forward to undertaking the project properly with the involvement of willing and capable farmers dotted across the country. Other partners in the soya bean outgrowers’ alliance include financial institutions, agricultural input suppliers and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Development Trust.

Earlier in his address, Mr Moyo said their soya bean outgrowers alliance was an ambitious project which had been delayed a “little bit” by the recent macro-economic events in the country.

“This is our maiden year for this programme but it’s an ambitious programme which has been delayed a little bit due to certain events that were taking place in our country but we’re glad that we’ll be able to at least begin the journey.”

“We have assembled interested stakeholders from the financial services community and input providers to come and participate in this programme with a view to increasing the output of soya bean for the oil and stockfeed industry,” he said.

Mr Moyo said to date the programme has attracted 47 farmers ranging from small to large scale producers.

“Our target was 7 500 ha and due to some of the developments in the economy, we might not be able to reach that target but we think we will be able to get at least half of the initial target,” he said.

Responding to questions from journalists, an official from the Zimbabwe Farmers Union, Mr Alpha Majera, who was representing farmers in the soya bean project, said as farmers they were promising to fully embrace the project.

“As farmers we are promising that we will be on board and we are going to fully participate as well as deliver soya bean in terms of the obligations that we will owe. We are also requesting those who will be supplying the inputs to supply,” he said.

Mr Majera said farmers in the soya bean outgrowers’ alliance were targeting at least three tonnes per hectare on account that all the inputs were adequately provided on time.

Meanwhile, one of Zimbabwe’s major cooking oil producers, Pure Oil, announced last month that it had invested $9 million towards supporting contract farmers to produce soya bean required for the manufacture of edible oils. — @okazunga