Agri-input shortages causing concern

With preparations for the coming planting season already underway in Zimbabwe, there are growing concerns over the critical shortage of agricultural inputs. According to preliminary projections by the Seed Security Network (SSN) of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Zimbabwe will face a maize seed deficit of about 40,000 mt in the 2002/03 season. SSN noted that current production was pegged at 20,000 mt, with the remainder expected to be imported from South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. The prospects for groundnut, sorghum and millet seeds were equally bleak, and a deficit of 1,300 mt was forecast for sorghum. Millet seed from commercial sources was expected to fall almost 80 percent short of the estimated national demand and a 2,500 mt shortfall for sugar beans and groundnuts was projected. The Famine Early Warning Network (FEWS NET) noted that "even if the rainfall situation turns out to be good", the critical shortage of inputs would seriously affect Zimbabwe’s 2003/04 agricultural season. Access to seed and fertiliser by smallholder farmers was being hampered not just by limited supplies, but also by the increased prices at which these commodities were currently trading. The past twelve months saw the price of hybrid maize seed rise from Zim $192/kg (about US 2 cents) to Zim $1,428/kg (about US $1.80). The escalating foreign currency shortage continued to limit the availability of other critical agricultural inputs, the most important of which were spares for the repair and maintenance of agricultural equipment, fuel and fertilisers. Consequently, yields for the 2003/04 cropping season would be below normal, even if climatic conditions turned out to be favourable, FEWS NET said.