Farmers target 400 000t wheat to ease imports
Zimbabwe is targeting 400 000 tonnes of wheat this season after the country, which perennially imported the grain due to shortages, registered a 36 percent output growth last year.
The Zimbabwe Wheat Board last convened an stakeholders meeting to explore linkages across the entire value chain to transform the wheat industry.
The discussions centred on building a robust and efficient ecosystem that is seamless from soil conditioning, planting, harvesting, genetics as well as uninterrupted supply of water and electricity.
“We have come together with the main objective of making agriculture great again in this country for sustainable economic development in the long term,” Given Mesoemvura, the Zimbabwe Wheat Board Trust chairperson said.
“The 400 000 tonnes wheat target is realistic and as farmers we are confident of revitalising the wheat industry (back) to where it belongs,” noted Roy Linfield, a Commercial Farmers Union representative.
Dr Prince Kuipa, from the Zimbabwe Farmers Union, said: “The potential is there. We only
need to utilise effectively the land and the water bodies that we have in the country,
otherwise we are on course to achieve agricultural success.”
He added that farmers were facing financial challenges, a situation that is constraining their ability to buy equipment and inputs due to the high parallel exchange rates.
Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Vangelis Haritatos said the Government was ready to facilitate enhanced wheat production in the country.
“Agricultural development and food security remain a top priority for the Government because of its huge contribution to rural transformation, food security and economic growth and wheat occupies a central role in stimulating demand for several sectors, hence, the government stands ready to offer the necessary support,” he noted.
Deputy Minister Haritatos also applauded farmers for last year’s good wheat yields as GMB recorded 208 343 tonnes of wheat, with 60 percent of it of the premium grade.
“The Government thrust is to see more millers and other private players joining contract farming to ensure 40 percent of raw materials are achieved by the private sector and they will get 60 percent from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB),” he added.
This year’s wheat conference was held under the theme “Consolidating the Gains of Quality Products”.
The initiative comes as sweet news to the country at a time when wheat demand has unexpectedly gone up due to the possibility of supply chain constraints as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Both Ukraine and Russia account for nearly 30 percent of the world’s wheat exports. It’s not just uncertainty about the crisis causing wheat prices to climb, but there are also worries about infrastructure damage in Ukraine and whether it will hinder the country’s ability to export in the near future.
Zimbabwe does not import its wheat from the Black Sea territory, but the situation there will push demand for wheat from all over the world as more countries shift their supplier base.
This week, officials in Egypt announced the plan to source wheat from other regions
outside Russia and Ukraine and more countries might follow suit resulting in increased
bread prices locally in the long run.
As grains continue to see an increase in prices, this state of affairs is also spurring
concerns about the impact higher feed costs could have on livestock producers.
Increased wheat production dovetails with the country’s Agricultural Food Systems
Transformation Strategy anchored on increased production followed by value addition and
beneficiation.-The Herald
