Agriculture minister Joseph Made was recently in the news telling the nation that as much as 300 000 hectares of maize crop had failed due to low rainfall this agricultural year.
NewsDay Editorial
For the first time, Made told the nation the truth about the true state of our agriculture, and that Zimbabwe must this season prepare to import thousands of tonnes of maize to help millions of Zimbabweans facing starvation as a result of their failed crop.
But even long before Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980, in spite of the fact that it experienced droughts, for many years it had always been able to feed the population and sell surplus grain to neighbours.
So Made’s admission was a clear indication that from the onset of the government’s land grab at the turn of millennium, Zimbabwe morphed from being a regional breadbasket to a net importer of grain to feed its impoverished population.
This is no more than a self-inflicted food catastrophe that exemplifies government’s lack of foresight and preparedness. Understandably, there are issues of climate change to contend with, but surely, if government did not have its priorities mixed up, it would have set up strategic reserves.
Suffice it to say that since Made became minister in charge of Agriculture some 15 years ago, Zimbabwe has never known a bumper harvest.
So if it’s not Made, who has failed it is his master President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF party. It’s really sad to realise that most of the irrigation infrastructure around Zimbabwe is now obsolete due to years of neglect, yet this was key infrastructure which for years ensured that rain-fed agriculture remained vibrant.
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Zimbabwe has so many dams which are now lying idle while citizens stare hunger in their face. In some parts of Matabeleland and Manicaland, hunger is already knocking on the doors of many families as most of the cereal crop has now been written off. There are no prospects of a modest harvest. Soon, Zimbabwe will be importing food from Zambia and Malawi where most of the white former commercial farmers chased away from here are now running vibrant agricultural enterprises.
Zimbabwe will need to import about one million tonnes of maize at a cost of $300 per tonne so it will have to fork out $300 million at a time government is struggling to pay its workforce and meet many other financial obligations.
It is tragic that agriculture, which Zanu PF always say is the mainstay of the economy, is now in the doldrums due to lack of proper planning and investment. Surely, this is a serious indictment on the so-called empowerment programmes the populace is always told have been successful.
The situation on the ground clearly demonstrates that this was mere propaganda. Government needs to put its house in order and take full responsibility. We understand it costs up to $3 000 to apply for an import permit.
As is always the case those Zanu PF coteries are relishing an opportunity for hunger to stalk the nation because they will accrue massive profits riding on the hunger of millions.
It is clear that government has misplaced priorities and does not take agricultural productivity as seriously as they would have the nation believe even if this was key to food security.
It is a shame that many people who benefited from the so-called land reform programme have not been utilising the land for the benefit of the nation as they just regard land as some kind of status symbol. Government must put its house in order as a matter of urgency and bring normalcy to the sector.
