GMB opens agro-shops to foster price stability

Mukudzei Chingwere

Herald Reporter

THE Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is now operating 50 agro-shops across the country as part of Government’s elaborate plan to ensure price stability and affordability of basic commodities for ordinary people in line with President Mnangagwa’s thrust of leaving no one behind.

This was revealed by the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

Commodities sold at the agro-shops include mealie-meal, sugar, rice, salt, flour, soap, cooking oil, coffee, dried kapenta and traditional mealie-meal.

“Government will accelerate depot-to-depot grain movement for the current period of August to October 2024,” said Dr Muswere.

“The Grain Marketing Board is now operating 50 agro-shops, supported by 12 hammer mills, mostly in rural areas and peri-urban depots, as part of the Government price stabilisation thrust, and to enhance product availability, accessibility and affordability”.

Silo Foods’ complementary products include coffee, bran, dried kapenta, flour, grits, maize-meal, salt, silo samp and traditional mealie-meal.

Dr Muswere said Cabinet received an update on the 2023-2024 summer crops marketing and food security outlook to March 2025 and the 2024 winter cereals plan which was presented by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka.

He said the country’s food balance sheet to March 2025 indicated that 6,2 million people in rural areas would require assistance.

“Taking into consideration the rural population requirements to March 2025 and the school feeding programme to April 2025, the maximum amount of grain required is 464 608.54 tonnes,” Dr Muswere said.

The private sector, he said, was expected to import all stockfeed requirements of 400 000 tonnes and urban maize requirements of up to 450 000 tonnes by March next year.

“To date, 567 160 tonnes have been imported. Import permits worth 1,8 million tonnes of maize are active. Regarding the Winter Cereals Plan, 121 982 hectares of wheat, 2 100 hectares of maize, 3 732 hectares of potatoes, 6 449 hectares of barley and 3 000 hectares of seed wheat were planted,” Dr Muswere said.

“The wheat-based food security strategy is therefore sufficiently robust to meet our needs by March 2025”.

He said current stocks in the Strategic Grain Reserve, comprising

wheat, maize and traditional grains were at 264 246 tonnes, excluding 32 314 tonnes imported by the Government to date.

Dr Muswere said the 200 362,54 tonnes shortfall would be met from the winter wheat harvest surplus on the national annual requirement estimated at 240 000 tonnes as well as additional Government grain imports estimated at 300 000 tonnes.

Speaking at the same occasion, Dr Masuka said the Government was stepping up efforts to combat climate change induced challenges to agricultural production and ensure perennial food security in the country whether it rained or not as part of the developmental trajectory towards an upper-middle income economy.

Zimbabwe had come a long way from a position of hunger and food insufficiency through strategic planning by the Government and nutritional improvement was the next frontier the authorities were working on.

Dr Masuka also said they were seized with irrigation development and urged everyone in the agricultural sector to come on board.