ZIMBABWE’s cotton output is expected to grow this year, but at a slower pace than government projections as side-marketing continues to threaten the viability of the crop.
Since the introduction of multiple players in 2000 side-marketing has been rife in the industry. To date most farmers and ginners are engaged in operational and legal battles regarding the supply of adequate inputs, side-marketing, grading and pricing.
Despite the promulgation of Statutory Instrument 142 in 2009 to curb side-marketing and ensure long-term viability of the cotton industry through regulating the entire cotton value-chain, side-marketing has never been contained.
“The reason why the issue of side-marketing could not (be contained) is because the majority of the cotton contracting companies had greater vested interest. Why would a company that can have access to other cotton (free or otherwise), want to curtail that access? So while some of us were genuinely fighting for normalcy, clandestinely some would really advocate for a ‘free trade’,” agricultural expert Obert Jiri said.
The viability of the smallholder farmers has over the years dwindled. Price wars between farmers and ginners are the order of each marketing season as farmers fail to honour their contractual obligations. Farmers have reduced land under cotton cultivation, which has threatened cotton production.
According to the Econometer Global Capital, side-marketing has seen financiers shunning the industry.
“My personal opinion is there is need for regulation of side-marketing, but with an exit strategy when people should not steal other people’s cotton. An audit system should be put in place,” Jiri added.
During the 2017/18 season 400 000 cotton growers benefited from the presidential cotton input scheme after government chipped in to try and revive one of the country’s foreign currency earners which was on the verge of total collapse due to viability challenges resulting from inadequate funding and poor prices.
Last year, The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe, which is administering government’s cotton input programme, distributed inputs to about 155 000 cotton growers, pushing the national production to about 75 000 tonnes from 30 000 tonnes in 2016. This year’s package was made up of 8 000 tonnes of seed, 40 000 tonnes of basal fertiliser and 2 000 tonnes of top dressing fertiliser.
“Cotton is largely an export crop. The processing that is done here is to prepare lint for export. If you cannot export cotton you cannot grow it. From a finance perspective, you then need to ensure that you are able to adhere with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe regulations on exporting and remittances.
“The contracting companies in the dollarisation era would see no reason for all the export hustle when they could invest in other more lucrative agricultural ventures. Secondly, the eventual lint price at the international markets is controlled by the Liverpool A Index, this brings the problem of not being able to really calculate your eventual income before you engage in contracting. Thirdly, and related to second, the Zimbabwe cost of production is quite high. This squeezes profits, particularly if the eventual lint price is low, which often happens as the US and Brazil, dump lint at cheaper prices than us and they are able to accept low prices because they largely produce GM cotton,” Jiri said.
Government statistics show that the crop will reach 130 000 tonnes up from 75 000 tonnes in 2017. However, independent statistics projects a 10 000-tonne increase to reach 85 000 tonnes this year.

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Ray Ndhlukula

FARM workers evicted from Centenary Farm in Figtree have taken deputy chief secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet, Ray Ndhlukula, to court claiming over $561 000 in loss of property and violation of their constitutional rights.
Centenary Farm in Matabeleland South province was owned by white farmer Dave Connolly, who was, however, forced off the land by Ndhlukula in 2014. The white farmer has been involved in a protracted legal battle with Ndhlukula since then despite the fact that High Court judge Justice Joseph Musakwa ruled in 2016 that Ndhlukula’s occupation of the property was illegal.

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The soyabeans price had always been double that of maize until the maize price was set at $390 leading to a reduction in the price differential.

THE country’s 15 percent Valued Added Tax on soyabeans has been identified as one of the major challenges affecting soyabeans production.
Submissions by the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analys is and Research Unit (ZEPARU) to the CZI show that a farmer producing soya beans valued at $5 000 exceeds the VAT registration threshold and must, therefore, register and be charged 15 percent VAT for soyabeans sold.
“This negatively impacts on soya bean production and subsequently the whole value chain as it eats into the marginal profits of the farmer hence a disincentive for continued production and locks the country into import reliance. Even if the farmers are to pass it on to the consumers they cannot afford increasing the prices further given the cheaper imports from countries like Zambia,” the ZEPARU report said.

Hortiflor Zimbabwe will be held from October 9-11 and is expected to attract buyers, suppliers and growers.

INTERNATIONAL horticulture players will in October converge in Harare for the fourth edition of the horticulture and floriculture show, Holland-based HPP Exhibitions has announced.
The Hortiflor Zimbabwe Fair was last held at the Harare International Conference Centre in 2000 as Agriflor Fair, the country’s premier flower show back then. About $86 million was earned from flowers alone during the same year at a time the country was the second largest exporter of cut flowers in Africa after Kenya and the third largest in the world.
Hortiflor Zimbabwe will be held from October 9-11 and is expected to attract buyers, suppliers and growers.
“I am not new in Zimbabwe. I have held three flower shows at the HICC and I am here to finish what I started. I still have work to do here by promoting the industry by bringing suppliers, buyers and growers together,” HPP International Exhibitions chief executive Dick van Raamsdonk said last week.
“I was at the airport in Frankfurt where I read an article quoting Agriculture Deputy Minister Davis Marapira on government’s intentions to hold workshops with stakeholders on how best they can explore European markets and that is when I made the decision to come back to hold a horticulture show in Zimbabwe,” van Raamsdonk said.
He has been holding horticulture shows all over the world for 35 years, including in Kenya, Ethiopia and the Netherlands.
The International Floriculture Trade Expo in Kenya attracts 250 companies from all over the world.
“I am going to bring in international buyers, suppliers and growers to exhibit and to visit. Zimbabwe was number two and you lost that place to Ethiopia big time.
“Zimbabwe has the potential, it has the history and the name, so why not bring Zimbabwe back and put it in third place. I have been working on these exhibitions for years and I have that name internationally, so it is going to happen and they follow,” said a positive van Raamsdonk.
“There are people who are ready to invest; there are those who want to see if they can buy something, so buyers will come. This is what I do and I am sure that it will attract a lot of traffic,” he added.
Despite the changes in the agriculture sector brought about by the land reform programme, van Raamsdonk was confident that small scale farmers will attract buyers.
“There are brokers who buy from small scale farmers. It is the same concept in Kenya and it has been very successful. What I know is that this show will be a yearly event. This is not a short-term job, it has to be done long-term. It will take years to bring it to the same level as Kenya. I have been in Kenya for six years where I started with a small exhibition but today it holds one of the largest floriculture shows in the world,” he said.
The show is expected to give stakeholders in horticulture a feel of what is happening in the sector worldwide.
“What Zimbabwe needs is to get this machine moving. You already have the machine, you just need to remove the rust and get the sector moving. The demand for horticulture products is there but the supply is poor,” said van Raamsdonk.
Principal markets for Zimbabwe include the Netherlands, South Africa with the balance going to Australia, the Far East, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States.
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Zimbabwe Farmers Union executive director Paul Zakariya

ZIMBABWE’s high cost of borrowing, which is much higher than in regional economies, is rendering the country’s products uncompetitive, a Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit (ZEPARU) report has indicated.
“While average lending rate was 28 percent in Zimbabwe, that of Botswana, Zambia and South Africa was 102 percent, 9,5 percent  and 8,5 percent respectively. Although efforts have been made to reduce it, stakeholders still consider cost of borrowing quite onerous,” says a ZEPARU report titled The Development of a Competitive Value Chain, Opportunities and Challenges.
The high cost of borrowing has mainly affected manufacturers who have been finding it difficult to penetrate the export market.
However, farmers, especially smallholders — who are struggling to access affordable lines of credit given their lack of collateral, have also been adversely affected by the high cost of money.
“Other issues relate to lack of knowledge of production cycles by financial institutions as evidenced by untimely or slow disbursements of loans as well as lack of knowledge of bank lending processes, resulting in farmers not applying for funds far enough in advance for required disbursement,” the report said.
Contract farming has been touted as the solution to agricultural funding, however, issues of breach of contractual agreements by both parties and side-marketing has seen contractors shunning the sector.
“Contractors are not attracted to dry land production given the recurrent mid-season droughts that often threaten crop yield. In cases where they set up irrigation equipment, sink boreholes and construct dams, it may take five years before they recoup the capital invested,” the report added.
The chaos brought by the land reform programme saw the destruction of the land market in Zimbabwe, and as a result, banks were unable to finance agriculture due to the non-existence of land valuation mechanisms and none of the farms in the country have any collateral value.
High production costs in Zimbabwe have also been driven by costs of inputs such as fertilizer, seed, herbicides, fuel and labour.
“The cost of fertilizer is higher than that obtaining in the region. Cost of utilities also drive prices of inputs. Consultations with stakeholders revealed that fuel tax in Zimbabwe at 26 percent is higher than regional comparators like Zambia which has a rate of nine percent,” the ZEPARU report added.
Last year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had to intervene to regulate the cost of money in Zimbabwe. RBZ announced an interest rate regime capping lending rates at 12 percent per annum.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union executive director Paul Zakariya said:  “Lending rates range from six percent to 23 percent, but simply put, it is very expensive for farmers to borrow money from financial institutions. The most expensive has been 32 percent.”
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ZimTrade conducted a market survey in Botswana in February this year to gather intelligence on products and services suitable for export to that country.

BOTSWANA has a huge market for Zimbabwean products as long as they are priced competitively, a ZimTrade survey has indicated.
The trade promotion body conducted a market survey in Botswana in February this year to gather intelligence on products and services suitable for export to that country.
Results from the survey identified opportunities for Zimbabwean manufacturers in the processed foods and fresh produce sectors, agricultural implements and inputs, building material and mining supplies.
“Botswana is willing to buy Zimbabwean products as long as they can compete on price. Zimbabwean products have a great potential on the Botswana market,” the survey said.
Processed products that are popular in Botswana include Mazoe, Colcom products, Tanganda tea leaves, long life milk, baked beans, fish (bream) and potato chips.
Between 2012 and 2016, Botswana imported processed foods worth an average $429 million. Major imports included sugar, fruit juices, sweets, biscuits and dairy products, among others.
Opportunities in fresh produce are abundant in Botswana as the country imports a significant proportion of its fruit and vegetables.
“More than 90 percent of Botswana’s imports originate from South Africa and the products include avocados, mangoes, apples, potatoes, bananas, green leaf vegetables among others,” ZimTrade said.
Other sources include Malawi with one percent, Netherlands one percent, Zimbabwe 0,2 percent and Mozambique 0,2 percent.
Botswana’s climatic conditions mean certain horticultural products cannot be grown locally, hence its $63 million import bill in 2016.
In the agricultural sector, Botswana requires 200 000 tonnes of cereal per year but current production can only meet 17 percent of annual requirements.
“Government is commercialising the sector to improve food security and the country’s manufacturing industry is in its infancy and cannot support the envisioned growth in agriculture,” added the survey.
“There are also special projects such as the $800 million Pandamatenga and Zambezi agro-commercial projects that are at the centre of agricultural development in Botswana and offer unique opportunities to supply both inputs and implement,” it adds.
Specific products that have a market in the Botswana agriculture sector include seeds, animal feed, water pumps, irrigation pipes, tractors, fertilisers, disc harrows, ploughs, wire, fencing poles, insecticides and pesticides, among others.
In 2016, Botswana imported $238 million worth of agricultural inputs and implements, with South Africa supplying 88 percent of the products
Zimbabwe and Botswana have a Preferential Bilateral Trade Agreement which provides for reciprocal duty-free trade on all products grown, wholly produced, or manufactured wholly or partly from imported inputs subject to a 25 percent local content requirement.
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Deputy Finance Minister, Terrence Mukupe

LOCAL banks have been urged to remove collateral as a condition for extending lines of credit to entrepreneurs.
Finance and Economic Development deputy minister Terrence Mukupe called on banks to be active in the economic turnaround of Zimbabwe by removing collateral as a pre-condition when borrowing money.
“The issue of collateral by banks is overrated. I am calling on local banks that if we are to properly empower entrepreneurs, they have to revisit the issue of collateral and the way they approach their loan books. If banks are not extending debt and lines of credit to businesses because the entrepreneurs lack collateral, how do you expect business to grow,” Mukupe said at the 2018 Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Mashonaland Region Awards ceremony in Harare last week.

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa

ZIMBABWE has lost nearly $17 billion in agricultural exports and production to land invasions since 2000, independent economist John Robertson says.
This disclosure comes as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has been desperate to revive the sector through a cocktail of measures, including revision of land ownership laws, expansion of productive agriculture and recalling white former commercial farmers displaced during the chaotic agrarian reforms.
“To calculate the total loss incurred by the country… the $16,9 billion worth of production lost would only be the start (and) Zimbabwe became a net importer … from 1998 as most of the food-processing companies reduced output, then closed down when commercial farming suppliers went down,” Robertson said.

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Health and Child Welfare Minister, David Parirenyatwa

ZIMBABWE’S private health sector is failing to equip its hospitals with modern equipment due to shortages of foreign currency and general cash.
Private Hospitals Association of Zimbabwe (PHAZ) chairman Riaz Ahmed told The Financial Gazette that hospitals were facing a number of operational challenges caused by the financial crisis in the country.
“We are facing a shortage of drugs and foreign currency. They say we are on the priority list because we need to buy hospital equipment, but we are still waiting for the money to be allocated to us … drug companies are struggling to import medicines because of the shortage of foreign currency,” Ahmed said.
Major public referral hospitals across the country face collapse owing to rising debts, outdated equipment, poor funding and maladministration, among other pressing problems.
Ahmed called on government to expedite the implementation of the Health Bill to stop medical aid societies from opening their own hospitals.
“We hope this is going to resolve most of our problems between service providers and funders, especially the conflict of interest by funders who are also becoming service providers. They should not open hospitals. This conflict of interest should stop as medical aid societies should stick to funding and not service provision. It pushes other health practitioners out of business. You also find that these medical aid societies are promoting medical tourism by sending their patients to India for treatment, shunning local treatment,” he added.
Medical aid societies have repeatedly cited the high cost of medical procedures in Zimbabwe as the reason behind medical tourism, especially to India.
Addressing delegates at the PHAZ conference in Nyanga recently, Ahmed also highlighted the failure by health funders to honour the five percent tariff increase gazetted in 2014 as an impediment to the operations of service providers.
“The Association of Health Funders of Zimbabwe is only paying 2,5 percent and the other 2,5 percent is being charged as a shortfall to the patient, burdening already struggling Zimbabweans. Also delays by some funders in paying service providers has also posed challenges in their operations,” he said.
Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa (pictured), whose speech was read on his behalf by Manicaland provincial medical director Pratron Mafaune, urged medical aid societies to pay the full amount for service rendered within 60 days of receiving a claim.
“Delayed payments by medical aid societies remain a major concern to all private hospitals. Sadly, some medical aid societies are increasing subscriptions every year and not passing the same increase to the service providers.  The tariff remains a thorny issue as the official tariff gazette has been totally ignored by most medical aid societies,” Parirenyatwa said.                                     newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

DESPITE a chicken import ban, data from the South African Revenue Services shows that over 1 000 tonnes of frozen chicken and offals were exported by that country to Zimbabwe from 2017.
The Livestock, Meat and Advisory Council (LMAC) reports that of this figure, 123 tonnes were exported between August and December when the ban was in full force.
“Soon after the announcement of the outbreak of Avian Influenza in South Africa in June 2017, the Government of Zimbabwe banned imports of all chicken products from that country. However, information from the South African Revenue Services shows that 1 062 tonnes of frozen chicken and offals were exported to Zimbabwe during the same period,”  LMAC said.
It is estimated that revenue of $1,6 million for 2017 was lost through these illicit imports and the country was put at risk of a resurgence of the influenza virus in Zimbabwe. The disease is yet to be controlled in South Africa.
The outbreak reduced broiler production in Zimbabwe from 118 000 tonnes in 2016 to 106 000 tonnes in 2017. The country is still reeling from shortages of eggs after only 38 million dozen eggs were produced in 2017 ― 31 percent lower than the 55 million dozen realised in 2016.
Wholesale off-farm prices that stood at $2,85 per tray in November 2016 jumped to $4,40 per 30-egg tray in November 2017, with frequent stock-outs being experienced in most major supermarkets.
“Though the country was certified free of Avian Influenza at the end of January 2018, the loss in poultry breeding stock will linger for a while, necessitating the importation of hatching eggs.
“This has led to the price of broiler chicks rising from $0,65 early in 2017 to the current $1 per chick. Prices of layer chicks rose from $1,20 early in 2017 to $2 per chick. The negative impacts were also felt in the feeds sector which saw demand declining from 522 821 tonnes in 2016 to 420 491 tonnes in 2017,” LMAC said.
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Last year government raised the base price for the crop from $0,40 per kg to $0,47 per kg.

THE 2018 cotton marketing season kicked off with buyers offering last year’s producer price of $0,47 per kilogramme (kg) as they await a government announcement of a new price.
In line with the deliveries, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced a $40 cash payment for cotton growers for each bale, with the balance being deposited into the grower’s bank account or mobile money wallet.
The arrangement is similar to the tobacco cash payment plan meant to cushion farmers who produce export crops. The RBZ set a $300 daily cash payment ceiling for tobacco growers, with balances paid electronically. Part of the cash for tobacco farmers is in foreign currency.
In a statement, the RBZ said the cash payment was in line with international best practice of promoting use of electronic money.
“In line with international best practices and the need to promote the use of plastic money, cotton growers shall be paid in cash, a maximum of $40 for each bale sold,” it said.
Despite a similar announcement last year, farmers struggled to get the $40 from cotton buyers due to the liquidity crisis.
“We expect a good price from government this year. International lint prices have been stable opposed to the turbulence experienced in the previous years. Government is doing everything possible to incentivise and revitalise all sectors that were withering due to price wars,” Zimbabwe National Farmers Union vice-president Garikai Msika said.
The Cotlook A Index is currently quoting a price of $0,93/pound.
The RBZ also advised producers that they will be paid a 10 percent export incentive.
“Cotton growers shall be paid an export incentive of 10 percent, which shall be paid on a monthly basis through bank accounts or mobile money services. In this regard, cotton merchants shall submit to the reserve bank, the list of growers and their respective account details by the 7th of the month following the one for which the incentive is being claimed,” the RBZ said.
Last year, the producers received a five percent export incentive to cushion them from high operating costs.
Last year government raised the base price for the crop from $0,40 per kg to $0,47 per kg.
RBZ also urged merchants to secure offshore lines of credit prior to purchasing seed cotton.
“Seed cotton shall continue to be purchased using offshore lines of credit. For avoidance of doubt, only those cotton merchants who were financed by government and those who financed cotton production using their own resources shall buy seed cotton,” the RBZ noted.
Cotton was once one of the country’s largest foreign currency earners before production slumped due to viability challenges resulting from inadequate funding and poor prices.

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Of the $114 million spent on maize imports, 51 percent and 29 percent was spent on maize from South Africa and Mexico, respectively.

ZIMBABWE imported over 300 000 tonnes of maize worth $114 million between January and November 2017, the latest Livestock Update Report has shown.
This is despite government assertions that the country recorded a bumper harvest of 2,6 million tonnes in the 2016/2017 agricultural year.
The livestock industry was the major importer of the grain from South Africa, Zambia, Mauritius and Mexico.
“In the 11 months to November 2017, 307 758 tonnes of maize worth approximately $114 million was imported. This is 59 percent (quantity) and 57 percent (value) less than the corresponding period last year, respectively,” the April 2018 report done by the Livestock and Meat Advisory Council (LMAC) has said.
In 2016, the industry imported about 700 000 tonnes of grain.
“Imports declined as a result of increased local production during the 2016/2017 agricultural season. Monthly imports in 2017 were on a downward trend and the lowest maize import since 2015 of 3 066 tonnes was recorded in November,” the LMAC said.
Of the $114 million spent on maize imports, 51 percent and 29 percent was spent on maize from South Africa and Mexico, respectively.
Zambia offered the lowest average maize price of $272 per tonne while Mexico was the highest at $399 per tonne. Maize from South Africa was $379 per tonne.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the spot price of white maize on the South African Futures Exchange oscillated between $125 and $160 per tonne. The strengthening of both the rand and US dollar accounted for the rise in price, with the February price at $170 per tonne.
The 2018 maize production outputs in Zimbabwe and the rest of the region are expected to decline.
According to the Southern African Development Community Food Security Update, the hot and dry conditions that prevailed in December 2017 affected food production in the region.
While Zimbabwe awaits the release of the National Crop Assessment Report, Zambia announced that output for the 2017/2018 season will be 2,4 million tonnes, down from 3,6 million tonnes last year.
Prolonged dry spells between November 2017 and January 2018, the maize stalk borer invasion and the fall armyworm outbreak is said to have resulted in the 33,6 percent drop in production.
South Africa, which is projected to produce some 13,4 million tonnes of maize and Zambia are expected to lead maize supplies  in  the  region.
Currently, the Grain Marketing Board is selling stockfeed maize at $150 per tonne.

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MEAT processors imported 5 800 tonnes of mechanically deboned meat valued at $4,6 million between January and November 2017.
Mechanically deboned meat (MDM), the main ingredient in processed meats and sausages, is generally the lowest priced low grade products or bi-products from boneless cuts of more expensive meat.
“Cumulative imports of MDM for the 11 months to November 2017 were 5 877 tonnes, a decline of 25 percent over the same period in 2016,” The Livestock and Meat Advisory Council (LMAC)’s April 2018 Livestock Update Report said.
In 2016, 7 358 tonnes were imported at an average price of $484 per tonne.
The importation of MDM has been disrupted by a number of issues, including the meat scandal in Brazil that led to a temporary ban on its imports and the outbreak of Avian Influenza in South Africa that curtailed the importation of poultry related products from, and through, that country.
“The acute shortage of nostro allocations has also exacerbated the situation,” the LMAC report said.
At least 77 percent of the MDM was sourced from South Africa.
“As South Africa manufactures no MDM, bulk orders from major suppliers in countries like Brazil and Argentina are made and then sold onwards to Zimbabwean importers,” the report added.
Imports from Namibia make up 22 percent and one percent is directly imported from Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
The cost of MDM averaged $783 per tonne between January and November 2017, an increase of 63 percent over the same period in 2016.
“The rise in cost is due to a number of factors, including supply constraints from traditional markets including Brazil and Argentina. The duty of 40 percent on imports continues to put upward pressure on cost, notwithstanding the fact that MDM is categorised as a raw material.
“Imports from Namibia averaged the highest cost at $872 per tonne, while direct imports from Brazil were the cheapest at $568 per tonne. Imports from South Africa were $763 per tonne,” the report said.
A 40 percent import duty makes locally produced processed meat products non-competitive relative to regional products. The local meat processing industry has been developed around the importation of three ingredients ― MDM, casings and seasoning. This created a market for locally produced beef and pork trimmings, chicken skins, vegetable proteins, herbs and spices.
Processed meat was one of the country’s biggest foreign currency earners before the closure of the Cold Storage Company. A single firm, Super Canners of Bulawayo, was responsible for over 70 percent of total Zimbabwean exports of processed meat to the European Union and for all corned beef exports.
In terms of imports, South Africa has maintained the top position, with March 2018 imports from South Africa rising to $271,6 million from 202,7 million during the same period last year.  Imports from Singapore also rose sharply from $97,4 million last year to $137,6 million this year.

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Salem College economics professor Craig Richardson.

ZIMBABWE has been urged to tighten rules governing land ownership to attract much needed foreign investment.
Speaking to The Financial Gazette on the sidelines of a public lecture on Property Land/Rights: Economic Growth Potential for Zimbabwe hosted by the US Embassy, Salem College economics professor Craig Richardson called on government to make land tenure more secure.

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa

THE Zimbabwe business sector recently agreed that the country should create an investment development board, in order to improve the country’s ease of doing business and act as a one stop shop for all investors.
The investment board to be called Zimbabwe Investiment Development Authority is expected to be modelled around the Rwanda Development Board which registered investments in Rwanda worth $1,675 billion last year from $515 million in 2016.  At a business breakfast seminar held in Harare last month, the country’s business sector agreed that the new organisation should be a consolidated investment hub.

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa

ZIMBABWE last year experienced renewed land expropriations, with an increase in cases of powerful politicians and their cronies evicting beneficiaries of the land reform programme, especially those on prime agricultural land and wildlife sanctuaries.
A few remaining white farmers were also targets of the evictions, according to a State of Human Rights report compiled by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.
Some of the farm seizures were halted by the emergence of a new government led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, which came into power after a military intervention forced former president Robert Mugabe to resign in November.

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Finance and Economic Planning, Minister, Patrick Chinamasa

PARLIAMENT has approved a $15 million loan to support smallholder irrigation projects.The loan, advanced by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), aims to reduce rural poverty and enhance food security for 25 000 small-scale, low-income farming households in rural Manicaland, Masvingo, the Midlands and Matabeleland South provinces.
Moving the motion to approve the loan in the Senate last week, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said subsection (3) of Section 327 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that an agreement which is not an international treaty, but which has been concluded or executed by the President or under the President’s authority with one or more foreign organisations or entities and imposes fiscal obligations on Zimbabwe does not bind Zimbabwe until it has been approved by Parliament.
“The loan agreement between the Government of Zimbabwe and the OPEC Fund for International Development relating to a $15 million loan agreement to co-finance the smallholder irrigation revitalisation project in Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland South provinces, now therefore, in terms of Section 327 (3) of the Constitution, this House resolves that the aforesaid agreement be and is hereby approved,” Chinamasa said.
The loan facility has a tenure of 20 years, inclusive of a five-year grace period and will attract an interest rate of 2,5 percent per annum, and this is inclusive of one percent  administration charges.
The total project cost is $51,68 million. 
The loan is over and above the $25,5 million grant that was made available by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in November, 2016.  
The Government of Zimbabwe and beneficiaries will contribute $7,9 million and $3,8 million respectively towards the project. The $15 million is therefore a top up to meet the project cost of $51,68 million.
The project will be implemented over a period of seven years and preparatory works commenced in July, 2017 with support from IFAD.  
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement is responsible for the implementation of the project.
“The project will directly benefit 15 000 households in existing schemes and 12 500 households in adjacent rain-fed areas, covering a total of 8 000 hectares. Further, employment opportunities for about 2 000 youths will be created while 500 extension and technical service providers will be trained,” Chinamasa said.

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FARMERS have missed the May 15, 2018 winter wheat planting deadline as well as its extension to May 31, raising fears that the country will need to import more wheat in 2019.
The missed deadlines mean that wheat production for 2018 has been compromised because planting after May results in a loss of about 50 kilogrammes per hectare since the crop will mature well after the winter season.
Although planting may be extended in the first week of June, experts, however, say it is a huge gamble and may not yield the expected result.
“We have, over a long time, extended winter wheat establishment to end of May and even to the first week of June. However, optimum performance is achieved if the crop is established within that optimum period.
“In some seasons we got away with it while we burnt our fingers in some due to first summer rains damage, some sort of gambling,” Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Wonder Chabikwa (pictured) said.
The sector had targeted 90 000 hectares, with a yield of four to five tonnes per hectare.
Last year, about 37 000 hectares of wheat were planted against a target of 60 000 hectares. This was an increase from 14 000 hectares planted in the 2016/17 season and 10 000 hectares previously.
Most farmers missed the winter wheat planting deadline after failing to harvest their summer crop in time to make way for the winter wheat crop.
The same problems experienced last year have extended into 2018, with farmers failing to harvest their crop in time.
“The delay in planting has been caused by different challenges faced by farmers such as the delayed harvesting of the summer crop and machinery breakdowns,” Chabikwa said.
Farmers also highlighted that combine harvesters were in short supply, further delaying harvesting.
“As the season progresses, combine harvesters will need to be available to harvest the late planted crop,” Chabikwa added.
The challenges are likely to see the country facing another year of record wheat imports.
The baking industry imports over 85 percent of the country’s wheat requirements annually, with the bill for the imports topping $100 million every year.
According to the USDA Global Agricultural Information Network, Grain and Feed Annual Report, between October 2016 and March 2017, Zimbabwe imported 150 511 tonnes of wheat mainly from Poland, Russia, Canada and South Africa.
Last week, millers announced that they will import 200 000 tonnes of wheat from Canada to cover the current deficit.
Daily bread production is estimated at about 850 000 loaves and millers say monthly wheat consumption is about 25 000 tonnes.
The country’s peak wheat production occurred during the 1990s. In 1990, 1999 and 2001, annual wheat production reached 325 000 tonnes, 342 000 tonnes and 325 000 tonnes respectively
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FOREIGN investments need to be domesticated to reduce the country’s import bill and promote local preference, Buy Zimbabwe has said.
Speaking at the launch of the 8th Buy Zimbabwe Summit in Harare last week, Buy Zimbabwe chief executive officer Munyaradzi Hwengwere said as the country was aiming to attract foreign investments there was need to consider the local business. Emphasising that foreign investment should complement local production, Hwengwere said: “When we are saying we are open for business and when we are driving in foreign investments, what does it mean for the local business? We, therefore, need to be clear how foreign and local can work together. When we attract that investment what then needs to be done? We can then domesticate that investment in order to reduce the country’s import bill and increase exports.”
This comes as Buy Zimbabwe will be holding a conference in Gweru from June 14 to 15 under the theme: Building Competitiveness and Retaining Domestic Preference in an Open Economy.
“When you look at the theme, the key there is about competitiveness. Competitiveness must not mean that you do away with issues of local preference,” said Hwengwere and gave an example of the Proudly South African local content policy, whereby South Africans agreed to globalise, but based on local businesses.
“As Buy Zimbabwe, we believe that our local content must be anchored on the two drivers of this economy, agriculture and mining with manufacturing coming in between seeking to value add products from mining or agriculture,” he said.
Buy Zimbabwe chairman Anxious Masuka weighed in saying: “So Buy Zimbabwe is not a lobby group; it distinguishes itself clearly
from those that are member-based, it seeks to maximise opportunities in the various value chains to ensure that there is job creation, stakeholder wealth and there is restoration of Zimbabwe’s pride.”
Buy Zimbabwe hopes to ignite accelerated economic growth through promotion and facilitation of stakeholder effort aimed at producing local goods and services for consumption locally and abroad.
“We have a new mission that actually speaks to that, that we seek to create and sustain an opportunities ecosystem for the promotion and facilitation of opportunities as well as accelerated economic development through stakeholder engagement, research and development, capacity building and enhanced communication,” he added.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

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Day old chicks prices per 100 increased to $97 from $66 last year.

AN aggressive restocking of breeder birds by the poultry industry since the outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) last year has seen an increase of pre-laying broiler breeder birds from 130 000 in September 2017 to 306 000 in March 2018.
As a result, there is an increase in the number of broiler breeder birds to 574 000 in March 2018. However, this is still 13 percent lower than the stocks before the outbreak of AI.
Following the outbreak in May 2017, the national total stock of broiler breeders declined from 660 000 birds in April to
490 000 in June.
The Zimbabwe Poultry Association (ZPPA) May Update Report indicates that the country will have to continue importing hatching eggs until the end of the year despite improvements in the poultry sector.
“Projections are that local production of hatching eggs will remain depressed until the last quarter of 2018, necessitating the continued high dependence on imported hatching eggs to satisfy demand for day-old chicks from local poultry farmers,” the report said.
Local production of hatching eggs declined 7,4 million in December 2017 to 5,5 million in March 2018 while hatching egg imports increased from 1,35 million in November 2017 to five million in March 2018.
Production of day-old chicks has remained firm and averaged 7,1 million in the first quarter of 2018, representing an increase of 32 percent on the same period in 2017.
“Broiler meat production, which had declined to a monthly average of 7,6 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2017, has recovered strongly since then. The recovery has continued into the first quarter of 2018. The monthly average production of 11,2 million tonnes of broiler meat during the first quarter of 2018 was 37 percent more than the average production in the first quarter of 2017. Large-scale broiler meat production peaked at a new high of 4,4 million tonnes in March 2018,” ZPA said.
Increased broiler meat supply in the first quarter of 2018 has led to significant stock build-up and wholesale prices are expected to remain depressed.
“Persistent Avian Flu outbreaks in South Africa and an expected post-harvest increase in demand for day-old chicks in Zambia will limit supply of imported hatching eggs to Zimbabwe. This will increase reliance on non-Southern African Development Community imports of hatching eggs until the end of the year when local production is expected to recover to pre-Avian Flu levels. Day old chicks prices are likely to remain high,” ZPA further noted.
Day old chicks prices per 100 increased to $97 from $66 last year.

newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

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