Parliamentary committee concerned over lack of key farm inputs

Zimbabwe may face another season of reduced agricultural output unless the government moves to improve the supply of seed and farming equipment, a parliamentary portfolio committee on agriculture and water resources heard last week. Edward Mkhosi, an agricultural land use planner and member of the committee, told IRIN that reports received from seed and fertiliser suppliers noted a serious shortage of the key inputs. In addition, less than half the tractors used by the District Development Fund to provide free tillage to communal and newly resettled farmers were in working order, with the parastatal struggling to raise money for spares. "There are serious shortfalls for every requirement. Seed and fertiliser manufacturers say they have forwarded all their stock to marketing organisations, but there is still a great need all over the country. In terms of tillage, the District Development Fund reports that it has only 304 tractors working out of the 733 set aside for the programme. There is no prospect for a good harvest, things look bleak at the moment," said Mkhosi. He said the committee was reviewing the report and would send its recommendations to the agriculture ministry. Agriculture and Rural Land Resettlement Minister Joseph Made admitted there were problems in land preparation and planting. He told IRIN the government was in the process of securing more seed and equipment following an Iranian donation of US $28 million, but the shortage of spares for tractors had crippled the country's preparations for the current season. "There is a big problem of equipment. We have adopted a long-term solution to the tractor problem. We are in the process of finalising a deal under which a consortium of Iranian bankers will help the local Industrial Development Corporation set up a tractor manufacturing plant in Harare. That will reduce our dependency on foreign companies and improve the supply of tractors in the farms," said Made. He estimated that the country needed around 50,000 tractors to service both the small-scale and commercial farming sectors. A Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) report at the beginning of December said that although farmers had started receiving maize seed and some fertiliser on credit through the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) and the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), "transport problems are proving to be serious challenge for farmers from areas far removed from the GMB and ARDA distribution depots." The planting season usually takes place between October and December, with the cereal harvest due in May to July. Zimbabwe has faced recurring food production shortfalls due to drought, and the disruption to agriculture caused by the government's land redistribution programme. "A significant proportion of rural households have run out of their own food stocks and are finding it extremely difficult to meet their staple food needs due to both limited supply in the grain deficit areas and high market prices," said the FEWSNET report. Around 3.3 million rural people were forecast to become food insecure from December 2004 through to March 2005, but given the larger than anticipated rise in food prices, FEWSNET warned that the figure could be even higher.