LAST week, government pegged the maize producer price at US$335 per tonne, which the country’s sole grain buyer, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), will pay in two tranches of US$200 in foreign currency and US$135 in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate.
Government also announced prices of other crops such as soyabeans, but to be honest, what government has offered across the board falls far short of what our farmers deserve to motivate them to keep tilling the land.
Government should be ashamed of announcing such ridiculous prices and hope that farmers will keep producing to feed the nation while being paid peanuts.
Why do we feel strongly about this?
In the 2020/21 season, the same government said the average national maize yield was 1,39 tonnes per hectare, and went on to boast that the yield was the highest since 2000/1. Just to put a bit of context, across the Zambezi River in Zambia, maize yield was 2,8 tonnes per hectare during the same period.
Now to get to the bone of contention why we believe government is insulting grain farmers by offering them US$335 per tonne of maize, if one looks at the input costs for one hectare, it is not worth it for the farmers to keep producing the crop.
It would be the height of lunacy if the farmers accepted this offer because what is being offered does not cover the costs involved in producing the grain.
In a 2018 report, this is what the country’s leading seed maize producer, Seed Co Group, had to say about the costs that go into just one hectare: “Normally, the cost of production per hectare of commercial maize averages US$1 000 up to US$1 300, after absorbing all variable costs eg fertilisers, tillage, chemicals, seed, labour and harvesting costs, to mention just a few cost items.”
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Nothing much has changed since then in terms of what a farmer requires in terms of inputs and labour, but input costs have since sky-rocketed and now cost an arm and a leg given the war in Ukraine and our poorly performing economy.
Honestly, how can government expect farmers to go back to the field if it is offering them a quarter of what it costs them to produce the grain?
There is absolutely no incentive at all in government’s offer. In fact, the offer is an insult, to say the least, even if government is going to offer the farmers seed and fertiliser for the next planting season.
In reality, what government should actually say is that farmers are free to sell elsewhere where they feel the price is right, otherwise government is being cruel to farmers by offering them peanuts for their sweat and stop them from selling elsewhere since currently, GMB is the only organisation mandated to purchase grain from farmers.
What does government hope the farmers will do with the US$335, buy seed for one hectare, then what?
It is high time government either opened up maize purchasing to other sectors or offer farmers more realistic prices to incentivise them to return to the field.
Otherwise, as things stand, the country will forever be unable to feed itself despite the potential it has.
