Lack of national agriculture policy hampers revival

Source: Lack of national agriculture policy hampers revival | The Herald September 16, 2016

Conrad Mwanawashe: Business Reporter

THE development of a national agricultural policy is key to the revival of the agricultural sector as it could provide guidelines and direction for the sector, industry and agricultural stakeholders said.Zimbabwe does not currently have an agricultural policy to guide the sector despite the fact that the sector is the backbone of the economy.

Industrialists gathered in Harare on Wednesday under the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries workshop on agribusiness said the lack of a national policy on agriculture was the country’s Achille’s heel.

“About 68 percent of our manufacturers are processors of agricultural inputs. This means that we need to pay attention to what is happening in agriculture,” CZI president Busisa Moyo said in an interview on the sidelines of the agribusiness workshop yesterday.

The agricultural policy is expected to highlight issues including inclusive value chains, making sure that crops grown even by smallholder farmers feed into the big business.

“So those linkages are very important, they make an impact on communities. Previously it was commercial farmer to big business now we need to adjust that model to include smallholder farmer to big business,” said Mr Moyo.

An agricultural policy would cover issues such as crops, livestock, irrigation development, forestry, legislation among others. The agribusiness workshop was organised to deliberate on findings on the state of Zimbabwe’s Agribusiness Sector following a survey conducted by the World Bank.

World Bank agriculture economist Melissa Brown told the workshop that Zimbabwe’s data collection has been completed and is currently under validation. A comprehensive report on the state of the agribusiness in the country is expected early 2017 upon which further consultations and discussions are also expected.

Preliminary findings however showed that technology to transform raw materials requires upgrading as current capital stock allows for significant production levels but at a relatively high cost.

She also said some industries were characterised by low levels of competition, with importers sometimes following high domestic prices rather than driving prices down towards import parity.

The workshop also received presentations from a number of speakers, among them, CZI agribusiness chairperson Kumbirayi Katsande on the Role of CZI in Agribusiness and the industry lobby group’s chief economist Dephine Mazambani on the Importance of Agribusiness in the Economy.