Smallholder farmers at the heart of agriculture: Govt

24 May, 2015 - 00:05 0 Views
Smallholder farmers at the heart of agriculture: Govt

The Sunday News

davis marapira

Deputy Minister Marapira

Roberta Katunga Senior Business Reporter
SMALLHOLDER farmers are at the heart of agriculture and critical in achieving food security and nutrition which is one of the key thrusts of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio- Economic Transformation (Zim Asset), an official said.

Speaking at the Usaid Zim-AIED closeout at Tshongokwe irrigation scheme in Jotsholo, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister Davis Marapira said for the country to create food surplus and re-emerge as the breadbasket of southern Africa, it was imperative to address disparities faced by smallholder farmers who make up the majority of farmers in the country.

Deputy Minister Marapira said research had shown that smallholder farmers contributed immensely to the world’s agricultural food production yet they were the least equipped and faced a lot of challenges to commercialise their activities.

“Smallholder farmers are usually faced with lower yields not because of lack of vast fields for larger production but because they have less access to technical knowledge, markets, credit, and inputs such as improved seeds, fertilisers and equipment.

Addressing these disparities is central to moving towards food security, improved nutrition, increased rural incomes, and greater economic growth for Zimbabwe,” he said.

Deputy Minister Marapira said Government remained open to innovative but practical ideas to link smallholder farmers to sustainable farming.

Speaking at the same event Zim-AIED chief of party Mr Joe Sanders said ensuring access to credit for smallholder farmers was critical as access to loans had helped transform the face of production for farmers at Tshongokwe irrigation scheme.

Mr Sanders gave an overview of the organisation’s interventions and results since its inception in 2010.

He said Zim-AIED had assisted more than 140 000 rural households across the country of which 50 percent are women, with training and technical assistance in good agricultural and business practices, access to technology that improves and increases productivity of their cropping and livestock enterprises, more sustainable linkages with profitable markets, greater access to credit and input markets and organisational strengthening to allow farmer groups to become viable economic players.

“Women make up more than half of the agricultural labour force in many developing countries, but barriers to credit, inputs and extension services, as well as land ownership and rights, limit their production. Zim-AIED provided innovative ways such as promoting equal participation in all programme activities to enable women and youth in smallholder agriculture to reach their full potential,” he said.

According to Zim-AIED the organisation facilitated the disbursement of more than 4 000 agricultural loans worth more than $16 million to micro, small, and medium agro-dealers, processors, traders, exporters, and smallholder farmers.

Mrs Sibonile Ndlovu, a butternut farmer at the irrigation scheme said they received funding from Quest Financial Services which amounted to $135 per farmer and were looking at getting more than $700.

She said access to funding had assisted the farmers to produce high quality produce that would fetch higher prices on the market as they could afford to buy all the necessary inputs.

“We not only planted butternuts but cabbages and sugar beans as well. We were trained on how to treat farming as a family business, keep records of our activities as well as work management. We are looking at harvesting about 2 000kg of butternuts,” said Mrs Ndlovu.

US ambassador to Zimbabwe Ambassador Bruce Wharton said the commercialisation of smallholder farmers helped increase incomes and food security as well as assist smallholder farmers emerge from poverty.

He said his embassy was partnering with Government, private sector players as well as smallholder farmers in creating sustainable farming practices as well as providing equal opportunities for both men and women.

The closeout marked the end of the five-year programme with farmers being urged to apply the skills and knowledge gained to continue uplifting themselves.

The event was attended by Chief Mabhikwa, Agritex officials, several government departments as well as local authority representatives among other dignitaries.

 

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