NDS1 set to stimulate agric production
THE Government, through National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1), is working on measures to stimulate agricultural production to ensure 80 percent of industry’s raw material needs are met from local inputs, a senior official said.
Chief director, Policy and Planning in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, Clemence Bwenje, said the Government had laid down strategies to ensure improved production in agriculture.
If the country achieves the target, this would translate to adequate supply of food, livestock and poultry industries raw materials.
“We are looking at achieving a six percent annual growth in agriculture as we endeavour to have an agriculture sector that will be able to provide 80 percent of the industry’s raw material requirements,” he said.
The agriculture sector is the mainstay of Zimbabwe’s economy, but has been dogged by a number of challenges that included climate shocks and low investment inflows into the sector, among other factors.
The 2020/21 farming season however, recorded good rains and Treasury believes this will see the sector registering 34 percent growth compared to the previous two seasons.
Critically, the sector has been struggling to meet demand for food as the country’s population grows as well as industry’s raw material requirements.
In line with NDS 1, the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy (AFSTS) has a target to treble agriculture output by 2030.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, in his 2021 midterm budget review, said the target was to put over 350 000 hectares of land under irrigation by exploiting existing water bodies.
In terms of NDS 1, agriculture will be centred on six pillars of transformation, namely food security and import substitution, increased and diversified exports, value addition and beneficiation, job creation and improved incomes for farmers.
“…in plans, the Ministry targets to put 350 000 hectares of land under irrigation and this will be achieved through a number of initiatives that Government is implementing, one such is the accelerated irrigation rehabilitation and development programme, which we call the V30 which is targeting to put 200 hectares of land under irrigation in every district per year for the next 10 years,” Mr Bwenje said.
Zimbabwe has approximately 10 000 small dams with potential to irrigate about two million hectares, but irrigation development remains very low. Of the 216 000 hectares of land that is equipped with irrigation 171 000 hectares are functional and 45 000 hectares require rehabilitation.
“We have partnerships that we are exploring with private sector, the first one is targeting to irrigate a total of 80 000 hectares in partnership with A2 farmers and 20 000 hectares with A1 farmers and smallholder irrigation revival programme which is supported by IFAD and this is looking at rehabilitating 6100 hectares in the smallholder farming sector,” Mr Bwenje added.
NDS 1 seeks to ensure AFSTS is buttressed by four critical pillars; enabling agriculture policy environment, appropriate investment, research development and modernisation and coordinated multi-stakeholder implementation monitoring and evaluation of agriculture interventions.-herald.cl.zw
