Zimbabwe boosts crop, horticulture production

Farmers in Zimbabwe significantly increased the production of crops such as tobacco, sugar cane, pecan nuts and blueberries in the 2021/22 season.

This was according to a report by Africanews.com, which stated that this upswing formed part of that country’s drive to reduce its import bill as well as increase exports in order to earn much-needed foreign currency.

Zimbabwe expected to harvest between 380 000t and 400 000t of winter wheat in 2023, which was more than the national annual demand of around 360 000t.

Tobacco output increased by 1% to around 213 000t in 2022, which translated into a 10% increase in producers’ income. Total export earnings from tobacco were expected to increase to more than R17 billion this year.

Dr John Basera, permanent secretary of Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, said at a recent strategic planning workshop in Gweru that the country was the sixthlargest producer and fifth-largest exporter of tobacco in the world.

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The country’s soya bean production rose by 15% to just over 82 000t in 2021/22, and its production of pecan nuts increased by 348% to 374t during the same period.

Sugar cane production was expected to reach six million tons in 2023, up from the 5,8 million tons produced in the previous season, which would equate to 3,5% growth.

Traditional grain production in Zimbabwe was expected to reach 194 100t in the current production season. Basera added that there was also an upswing in the production of coffee, apples and Irish potatoes.

Despite these increases in food production, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) still expected significantly high levels of food insecurity in Zimbabwe this year.

The FAO said in a statement that about 3,8 million people in the country were predicted to face acute food insecurity during the so-called peak lean season between January and March 2023. This was 30% higher than in the corresponding period in 2022.

The worsening conditions in Zimbabwe were mainly the result of continuing macro-economic challenges and high food prices, the organisation said in the statement.