eBusiness Weekly
Martin Kadzere
Government should keep an eye on prices of farm inputs ahead of the summer cropping season to avoid unjust increases, Federation of Farmers’ Unions has said.
This comes at a time when the economy is experiencing price increases of some commodities including bread and cement, which have been described as unjustified.
Some retailers hiked prices on speculation that lack of foreign currency would trigger shortages.
With cement, for instance, retailers took advantage of a temporary shortage to hike prices by as much as 80 percent.
Berean Mukwende, president of FoFU told Business Weekly on Tuesday that constant “monitoring” of inputs was critical to avoid profiteering by unscrupulous retailers.
“We are concerned that some retailers might want to take advantage of the recent wave of price increases but we are saying Government should not allow them,” said Mukwende.
“The situation is still normal, but it has to be constantly checked.”
Analysts say apart from monitoring prices, the Government should prioritise foreign currency allocation to fertiliser companies to avoid shortages and potential price hikes.
“The Reserve Bank needs to make sure fertiliser companies are allocated enough foreign currency so that we have enough commodity on the market,” Period Nyuta, an analyst with a local research firm said.
On Monday, the Government announced it had secured a $250 million loan from a European firm to fund critical inputs. This is in addition to other lines of credit the central bank was working on.
Below normal rain
In terms of preparedness, Mukwende said the farmers were on course but urged the Government to deploy resources to set up irrigation facilities at farms adjacent to water bodies.
This would help the country mitigate the effects of drought.
Zimbabwe’s Meteorological Department Services has already predicted the country would receive normal rains with a bias towards below normal in 2018/19 season.
Already, the Government has taken over management of communal irrigation schemes to scale up maize production as it seeks to mitigate droughts. The government will also increase production of winter maize and small grains to ensure food security.
Enhancing grain production would boost national strategic reserves as buffer for future shortfalls given that the yields for next season might be affected by El Nino induced drought.
Farmers in the communal areas under irrigation schemes would be supported by inputs while the Government would deploy agronomists to manage the programme.
Like the arrangement under Command Agriculture, a portion of the produce would go towards the repayment of the inputs while farmers would retain the remainder.
Zimbabwe requires at least 1,8 million tonnes of grain per year. A strategic grain reserve usually involves the government buying grain and taking responsibility for their storage until they are needed to make up for shortfalls.
But communal farmers also keep their strategic grains, which usually takes them to next farming season.
