Agric sector hits US$8,2bn target

The agriculture sector has already hit the initial 2025 target of US$8,2 billion a year as the industry grew by 36,2 percent to US$8,19 billion in 2021, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka said on Monday, but will continue growing byanother 10 percent next year.

Minister Masuka confirmed on his Facebook post on Monday that the growth of the industry, which was projected to have been achieved over five years was attained in one year.

“Last week I re-commissioned the Kadoma Cottco delinter where I noted that the Agriculture and Food Systems Strategy, a strong component of the National Development Strategy 1, envisioned the attainment of a US$8,2 billion agricultural industry by 2025.

“We have achieved this in just one year. The agricultural industry has grown by a stellar 36.2 percent to US$8,19billion in 2021. We plan to grow by a further 10 percent in 2022.

“This record growth in agriculture is partially responsible for Zimbabwe’s recordbreaking annual growth of 7,8 percent predicted for 2021, the highest in Africa in 2021,” he said.

The Agriculture and Food Systems Strategy was launched in 2020 as an integral part of the national development agenda being driven by President Mnangagwa.

The strategy is underpinned by growing the economy, ensuring Zimbabwe grows its own food and ensuring that a vast swathe of rural families moves from poverty to growing affluence with the production rises spread right across the sectors.

The approach is anchored on four pillars: enabling agriculture policy and the regulatory environment to facilitate the flow of investment into the sector; appropriate agriculture investments for productivity, food security and resilience; efficient agricultural knowledge, technology and innovation system; and the agriculture sector coordination for responsive planning, implementation monitoring and evaluation.

The agriculture strategy fulfils Zimbabwe’s domestication of global goals to meet the right to food and nutrition in the country.

This economic projection encourages the nation to be more productive and work with greater synergies and collaboration.

The plan has seen the interventions such as the re-branded Climate-Proofed Presidential Inputs Support Programme that has seen the introduction of the Pfumvudza conservation agriculture programme.

Pfumvudza was first used in grain and oil-seed production but has now been expanded to cotton.

The Government has also transformed Agribank into a Land Bank, which will provide a comprehensive financial and technical services to farmers and supporting projects aimed at promoting value chains in both private and community-based agriculture.

Treasury recently revised upwards growth projection for agriculture this year to 36,2 percent, citing higher than anticipated output in grains and livestock production.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube made the revelations at the 2022 pre-budget seminar held in Victoria Falls recently.

“Growth of the sector in 2021 has been revised upwards to 36,2 percent, from the initial projection of 34 percent, on account of higher-than-anticipated performance of tobacco, wheat and livestock, particularly beef, poultry, pork, sheep and goats,” he said.

A total of 210 000 tonnes of tobacco are expected to be delivered this year up from 184 000 tonnes delivered last year, with wheat expected at 276 000t from a previous harvest of 212 000 tonnes in 2020.

Beef should hit 67 800 tonnes and poultry 163 500 tonnes.
Zimbabwe is anticipating a volume of 300 000 tonnes of wheat this year, against an annual requirement of 360 000 tonnes.

Agriculture provides the living for the largest groups of Zimbabweans, as well as the food required by everyone and the raw materials for industry.-The Herald