ARDA courts investors
THE Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) is seeking investors to fund the installation of irrigation facilities on 15 000 hectares across the organisation’s estates in the country to boost food production.
It also emerged the authority will this year embark on an outgrower scheme targeting farmers with functional irrigation schemes and credible land ownership documents to receive farming inputs for wheat, under a programme aimed at enhancing national food security.
So far, the authority has 3 000ha under irrigation within its estates while 29 000ha are also irrigable through outgrower and joint venture initiatives. The inclusion of private farmers is meant to surpass the targeted yield.
ARDA owns 21 estates countrywide with about 98 000ha of arable land while 19 000ha have an irrigable capacity. Operating full throttle, the authority has capacity to produce over 500 000 tonnes of cereals, enough to fill national strategic reserves.
In an interview, the authority’s board chairman, Mr Ivan Craig, said they are seeking investors locally and outside the country to fund the installation of irrigation equipment on their estates.
“Last year, we had around 3 000ha on ARDA estates that had irrigation . . . the only challenge we are facing at our estates now is that we don’t have irrigation infrastructure. We have about 15 000ha within our estates that we are looking for funds from local and foreign funders so that we can capacitate that hectarage through irrigation.
“Otherwise it will be a good thing to say we have 15 000ha and 29 000ha from irrigation schemes and joint venture initiatives,” he said.
Mr Craig said ARDA has begun winter wheat preparations targeting 20 000ha this year, pursuant of its great grand agenda of boosting national food security.
“For winter wheat production, we thank God for the rains, of which the ones we received have raised the water table and the water bodies. So, we are ready to plant wheat. You find all the maize that was planted under the irrigation scheme is actually doing very well so that it will be harvested early enough to put our winter wheat on time.
“We are targeting about 20 000ha under winter wheat this season, but the figure which we are still working on is the joint venture hectarage.
“The hectarage to be put under wheat by ARDA this year would be 100 percent higher than that of 2023 because last year the authority did not have a joint venture programme,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have much water in our estates, so, from our estates we are targeting about 3 000ha.”
Under the outgrower scheme, the authority will be advancing inputs to farmers with functional irrigation facilities for winter wheat production in the upcoming season.
Basic requirements to be considered under the joint venture initiative are that one ought to have a farmer with an offer letter or the prospective partner should have a lease agreement with the person being leased from.
“Also, one ought to have a functional irrigation system, and a reliable water source, and then the rest will follow. For the joint venture initiative, the farmers have to approach their local Agritex extension officers who will actually come, assess and recommend,” he said.
Mr Craig said ARDA would also be meeting with the Zimbabwe National Water Authority and ZESA, the country’s power utility, to ensure there is enough water and uninterrupted electricity supply on farms.
“We are also sitting down with ZESA so that we have some clusters where we make sure that there is no loadshedding, which will affect the vegetative growth of the wheat. Last year, they (ZESA) were very good in terms of ensuring uninterrupted power supply to the farmers; they didn’t have power cuts. The plan actually worked very well, so we hope to repeat the same,” he said.
During the 2023 winter season, ZESA ringfenced 120MW that were required to facilitate irrigation at the time. The country’s record wheat haul last year stood at a staggering 465 000 tonnes, which was 100 000 tonnes more than the national demand that presently stands at 360 000 tonnes.
With enhanced Government extension services, the average yield per hectare rose to between 5,1 tonnes and 5,3 tonnes compared to 4,3 tonnes recorded in 2022.
The agriculture sector is one of Zimbabwe’s major economic centrepieces and the Government targets to grow the sector to a US$13,75 billion industry by next year.
In 2021, the sector hit the initial target of US$8,2 billion, underpinned by improved productivity and production across all sub-sectors. The growth was driven by the successful implementation of the Agriculture Recovery and Growth Plan that was launched in 2020 to promote food security, import substitution, diversified exports and value addition, among other things. The US$8,2 billion initial target was surpassed in 2021, as agriculture grew to an average of 6 percent.
Last year, the sector was estimated to register a 9,7 percent growth rate.