SDR funds to create over 20 000 jobs in agric sector

Over 20 000 people will be directly employed from 18 irrigation schemes that will be revived across the country under the US$20 million Smallholder Irrigation Development Fund (SIIDF).

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube and his counterpart Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka, launched the US$20 million SIIDF in Harare yesterday.

The SIIDF is being funded from Zimbabwe’s US$958 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) it received last year from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a General Allocation of US$650 billion released globally to all of the multilateral institution’s member countries.

The Government has announced that some US$145 million from the US$958 million SDRs, will be drawn down by the Government this year with social services and the productive sectors getting the bulk of the money.

Last month, the Government launched a US$30 million Horticulture Export Revolving Fund (HERF) to revive the sector.

“We are gathered to launch the US$20 million Small Irrigation Infrastructure Development Fund (SIIDF). The schemes intend to provide employment directly to more than 20 000 people.

“As outlined in the National Development Strategy 1 (2021-2025), Government is committed to ensure that there is food and nutrition security through improved food self-sufficiency and retaining the regional breadbasket status, increased food self-sufficiency from the 2020 level of 45 percent to over 100 percent and reduce food insecurity from the high of 59 percent recorded in 2020 to less than 10 percent by 2025,” he said.

Mthuli said the funds under the SIIDF will be disbursed through the national budget starting in January next year to the identified 18 smallholder irrigation schemes spread in the eight rural provinces of Zimbabwe excluding Harare and Bulawayo metropolitan provinces.

“The main objective of the facility is to ensure food and nutrition self-sufficiency to the vulnerable smallholder rural farmers in Zimbabwe.

“A total of 18 smallholder irrigation schemes covering about 2714 hectares, with about 4 500 households will benefit from the facility.

“It is from these resources that the Treasury is targeting the vulnerable rural smallholder farmers to finance the development of the irrigation infrastructure,” he said.

Speaking at the same occasion Dr Masuka said the launch of the US$20 million SIIDF was another milestone in the development of Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector.

“It is a milestone in the transformation of a sector (smallholder irrigation) that has been neglected for a very long time. This is in the context of the Vision 2030, National Development Strategy 1 and our vibrant and robust Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy.

“The Vision 2030 accelerator model as we call these irrigation schemes that are meant to transform lives is anchored on Rural Development 8.0, which is a package of eight interventions popularly dubbed Presidential schemes,” he said.

Such programmes include the Presidential Climate Proof Input Scheme (Pfumvudza/Intwasa), the Rural Development Programme which envisages the 35 000 boreholes per village, and the Presidential Poultry Scheme.

Zimbabwe’s wheat output is expected to rise by an additional 15 000 tonnes from 18 rural irrigation schemes the Government targets to revive following the launch of the US$20 million.

The SIIDF was coming at a time when Zimbabwe was this year expecting a bumper winter wheat harvest.

Zimbabwe expects a record winter wheat harvest of 380 000 tonnes this year against a national annual requirement of 360 000 tonnes.

Dr Masuka said the envisaged bumper wheat harvest was something Zimbabwe has achieved in the midst of numerous challenges inclusive of sanctions.

“Thus, we are the only African country that will achieve national wheat self-sufficiency; we have the potential to do more, ride on this, the winter wheat success can be able to do more for summer.

“My expectation, therefore, is that this is just under 3 000 hectares at five tonnes per hectare, it means another 15 000 tonnes.

“It means next year we will probably be at 415 000 tonnes of wheat arising out of this additional hectrage,” he said, adding that the above intervention complements existing programmes.

“We have for example, the smallholder irrigation development project which is targeting 6 100ha of rehabilitating existing irrigation schemes and its funded by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), the Government … the Government itself from its own resources has a budget for 92 irrigation schemes this year,” he said.

“There are 400 smallholder irrigation schemes in the country on 26 000ha.

“Only if we could achieve five tonnes per hectare for wheat on these, and perhaps a conservative 7/8 tonnes per ha for maize, then it means the Strategic Grain Reserve requirement revised upwards of 1,5 million tonnes, we will be able to achieve that perhaps in the next three seasons.”

Dr Masuka said the thrust that the Government has taken on transforming the agriculture sector does not only ensure households are climate proofed for sustainable livelihoods, but they begin to participate in economic activity.-ebusinessweekly