Cabinet Spells Out Agricultural Strategies for Food Security and Crop Production

By Ilyana Sithole

The Cabinet has given an in-depth update of the current status on agricultural production and food security at the 36th post-Cabinet briefing, which was presented by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Honourable A.J. Masuka. Marketing of summer crops for the 2023/2024 season, the outlook for food security up to March 2025, the winter crop production, and plans for the upcoming summer season were discussed during the briefing.

As it stands, the Grain Marketing Board has received a total of 20,148 metric tonnes of maize, soybeans, sorghum, and sunflower produced during the El Niño-affected summer season. Complementing this in food supplies, the private sector has imported a total of 974,658 metric tonnes of maize, wheat, and wheat flour from April 1, 2024, while the government itself has imported an additional 39,916 metric tonnes of maize. The Strategic Grain Reserve currently holds a stock level of 244,296 metric tonnes, serving as a buffer to potential food shortages.

Meanwhile, at least 197,628.796 metric tonnes of grain were distributed by the Food Deficit Mitigation Programme of the government to the country’s vulnerable households as of February 2024, while it is implementing the Emergency Schools Feeding Programme, where schools so far received 17,421 metric tonnes of mealie-meal to help secure that the students get at least a decent meal each school day.

As at November 1, 2024, wheat area for winter wheat reached a milestone of 518,502 metric tonnes from 106,238 hectares. This beats last year’s yield of 465,546 metric tonnes. The Grain Marketing Board has received so far a total of 75,000 metric tonnes of this wheat. This successful winter wheat is testimony to the excellent planning and implementation skills of the government, particularly under the stewardship of His Excellency, President Cde. ED Mnangagwa. In all, an output above 550 000 metric tonnes is expected from over 291 combine harvesters currently at work.

Looking ahead, ambitious plans for the 2024/2025 Summer Season aim for a major increase in cereal production to 3,274,200 metric tonnes, a figure that is well in contrast to the 744,271 metric tonnes harvested during the previous season. Production of major crops is forecast to rise by 347%, from 915,000 metric tonnes to over 4 million metric tonnes.

More importantly, the government has also prepared 91% of the targeted 9.5 million plots and is expecting 86% of the 3.5 million households to receive 50% of their agricultural inputs by November 24, 2024. Besides that, stern measures will be implemented as far as the abuse of inputs is concerned; this will include blacklisting of officials as well as a ban on ward committees found involved in such activities.

The National Enhanced Agricultural Productivity Scheme will cultivate 52,500 hectares of maize, soybeans, traditional grains, and sunflower to realize a production target of 256,000 metric tonnes in efforts to raise agricultural productivity. The private sector is committed to funding the development of 95,046 hectares for crops such as maize, soya beans, potatoes, sugar beans, and sunflower.

In addition, the ARDA facility is projected to plant 100,000 hectares of maize and 50,000 hectares of traditional grains. The government projects the support for 418,800 farmers to plant 270,000 hectares of cotton while the tobacco production target for the coming season stands at 300 million kilograms, with over 117,000 growers already registered.

This update from the Cabinet briefing underlines the proactive approach that Zimbabwe is using in the face of enhancing food security and agricultural productivity amid challenges dictated by climate change and economic strains. With ambitious plans for scaling up, Zimbabwe will feed itself and make farmers gain control over the new economy with a rich agricultural sector. As the country gears up for this summer, the emphasis is still on sustainability, efficiency, and resilience across the agriculture sector.