Zim banks on US$26m AfDB agric facility

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

 

Zimbabwe is banking on a US$25.65m African Development Bank (AfDB) grant meant to raise food production in Africa to plug supply deficits caused by the war in Eastern Europe.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka recently told delegates at the recently ended Zimbabwe Farmers Union annual congress in Gweru that the AfDB facility would a long way in ramping up production.

“This coming summer cropping season we will be boosted by the US$25.5m AfDB project on Zimbabwe Emergence Food Production Facility which aims to upscale food production to mitigate the impact of the geopolitical developments in Eastern Europe on food prices in the short term and build food security resilience over the medium to long term,” Masuka said.

“The main objective of the project is to increase cereal and oil seed production, fertiliser distribution and policy support to mitigate the food crisis and build the resilience of 180 000 farmers.”

The grant is part of the US$1.5bn African Emergency Food Production Facility, a response to the global crisis that has deepened shortages in many African countries.

AfDB granted the country an exemption from debt-related eligibility criteria, given the severity of its circumstances.

Zimbabwe is in debt and in arrears and therefore is ineligible for Transition Support Facility resources but the AfDB board provided a waiver to ensure the country gets the facility.

In Zimbabwe, it will focus on key agricultural commodities, namely wheat, maize, and oilseeds, including soybeans and sunflower, in line with the commodities impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The African Emergency Food Production Facility will distribute certified seeds and fertiliser to 180,000 beneficiaries, including around 70,000 women, in the eight farming provinces of Zimbabwe, namely Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and the Midlands.

It will make use of ICT-based platforms and the existing private sector-based distribution channels.

Under the project, maize production is expected to double to four from two metric tonnes per hectare.

Also, high-yielding varieties of oil seeds (soyabean and sunflower) are expected to produce an additional 40,000 hectares, targeting a total output of 400,000 metric tonnes.

The AfDB support comes as the World Food Programme has identified Zimbabwe as one of 20 countries globally that need the most urgent support due to rainfall deficits that cut 2022 cereal production below average and caused permanent crop wilting in four provinces.

Zimbabwe has also started distributing inputs under the Climate Proofed Presidential Inputs Scheme (Pfumvudza/Intwasa) where the government is targeting 3.5m households up from 2.3m in 2021.

The country has also suffered a persistently high inflation rate that has eroded the purchasing power of the vulnerable sections of the population.

Food self-sufficiency is expected to save the country millions of US$.

 

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