Zimbabwe to stop grain imports after March

THE Government expects the 2016/17 agricultural season to exceed the initial projected output target in view of the promising crop and the continuing good rains.

In view of progress made so far in cropping, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said there would be no need for Zimbabwe to import any grain by March this year.

"This year, this season and God willing, agriculture should perform better than I anticipated in my budget speech. But, all things being equal, the rains continuing as they have been and also looking at the standing crop, it gives me courage and confidence that agriculture should exceed its targets as of now," he told Parliament Tuesday. "I do not believe that from March onwards, after we are clear about the season on maize, we will need to import maize into the country."

The Government is already implementing a specialised command agriculture scheme for maize funded to the tune of $500 million targeting two million tonnes of grain out of 400 000ha of land. Communal farmers have also benefited from the Presidential inputs scheme and are expected to get good yields.

In his 2017 national budget policy statement, Minister Chinamasa projected that agriculture would grow by 12 percent driven by higher output from major crops such as maize, cotton and tobacco, as well as milk production.

He also said the distribution of the rainfall pattern will influence the outcome of the agricultural performance, and feared that any weakening of the La-Nina effect on the anticipated normal to above normal rainfall would compromise the season.

Zimbabwe declared food shortages a national disaster last year following a crippling El-Nino-induced drought. The country has been relying on grain imports from external producers to avert starvation.

The severe drought in the last season, which hit the country and the entire region for the second consecutive year, had a heavy toll on agriculture production, with some crops such as maize recording a mere 511 000 tonnes, against the average national requirement of 1 800 000 tonnes.

Grain imports contribute immensely to the country's huge import bill and the resultant trade deficit which has a negative effect on economic growth.

Consequently, the agriculture sector recorded a growth decline of -3.7 percent in 2016, according to Treasury.

Experts say any improvement in the agriculture sector will result in corresponding growth in the food processing sector with increased job opportunities for many.