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President Mugabe

Harare Bureau
President Robert Mugabe yesterday urged farmers to adequately prepare for the forthcoming farming season despite the prediction of low rainfall by weather experts.

Addressing the Zanu-PF 99th Ordinary Session of the Central Committee, President Mugabe said farmers should play their part to ensure a successful agricultural season.

“We must put our shoulders to the wheel in readiness for the work that is demanded of us,” he said. “Let the weather fail us. We’are hardworking people. I’m sure God recognises and rewards our hard work. He has done so in the past, rewarding our efforts with the rains. I’m sure we will harvest abundantly.”

President Mugabe decried the collapse of the cotton industry as a result of poor prices.

Cotton buyers have been offering farmers low price and this season they offered an interim price of $0,30 cents per kilogramme.

He said Zanu-PF was willing to support cotton growers and had instructed Government to intervene to save the sector.

“I want to appeal in a very special and direct way to our cotton growers from various parts of the country,” the President said.

“Our cotton growers have had a raw deal from buyers. The prices have been discouragingly low. Companies in turn have blamed it on the depressed international prices but the party has instructed Government to support cotton growers because the cotton industry was collapsing. So we support cotton growers to ensure we go back to our position as a cotton growing country except that this time we are doing so with a view to ensuring that we can put together enough feedstock for our various value addition projects, the cotton textile value chain,” he said.

President Mugabe applauded the Grain Marketing Board for its efforts in paying farmers who delivered grain to its depots.

“Importing grain clearly means paying farmers abroad when our farmers produce the same commodity. But what we must do is to work on our agricultural policies that ensure an improvement in our grain stocks. We hope that we shall not be hit by another drought,” he said.

He said government was making efforts to feed people in drought stricken areas and assured the nation that no one was going to starve.

“No Zimbabwean should be allowed to die of hunger. If that happens we must take a blame as a party for failing to support and protect our own people,” he said.

President Mugabe has for years been single handedly supporting poor rural farmers with inputs under the Presidential Well-wishers Inputs Support Scheme.