Cluster project to benefit farmers

COMMUNAL farmers in Matabeleland North Province are set to benefit from the Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project (SACP), which is set to bring linkages between producers and off-takers within the value chain.

The project was put together by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the Fund for International Development (OFID) who contributed US$50,7 million with the Government chipping in with US$5,4 million, and the private sector adding US$7,2 million.

The thrust of the programme is to establish partnerships between farmers and value chain lead enterprises by bundling up farmers into production clusters to bolster their production to meet the demand of lead value chain enterprises.

SACP covers five provinces of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Midlands and Matabeleland North.

The project is targeting 18 out of the 60 rural districts and will cover 428 wards grouped into production clusters to allow for effective aggregation and economies of scale in smallholder-based value chain development.

In an interview in Bulawayo yesterday on the sidelines of the SACP value chain lead enterprises engagement meeting for Matabeleland North, acting provincial director for Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services (ADARS) in the Ministry of Lands, Mr Dumisani Nyoni, said SACP will benefit the province as it will provide market linkage between lead enterprises and farmers.

He said this will allow smallholder farmers to sell their produce for cash as opposed to barter trade which has seen them failing to raise capital to develop and improve production.

Rainfall

Mr Nyoni said by virtue of being situated in agronomical region four and five, which receives low rainfall, Matabeleland region has been suffering more from climate change impacts.

“When we get a project that promotes climate-smart agricultural practices, it enables farmers to finance their enterprises and boost production thereby realising more from their farming activities,” he said.

Mr Nyoni said the growing of small grains was critical for the region because of the low rainfall and the

Grain Marketing Board (GMB) provides the market.

He said there was a need to develop financing systems and value chains that pay farmers cash in order to capacitate them to support other enterprises.

SACP national coordinator Dr Godfrey Nehanda said they are creating a win-win relationship between off-takers and farmers and facilitating contractual agreements on quality, quantity and supply terms.

Mr Nyoni said the two parties could agree on what can be done to improve productivity and increase the capacity of off-takers in terms of adopting climate-smart technologies for production and addressing gender issues within their production systems. — chronicle