How the market is re-defining staple food
The definition of staple food in Zimbabwe has traditionally been based on consumption only without considering economic needs.
THAT is how maize earned the staple food label. In simple terms, a staple food is a necessary commodity whose demand is always constant. Over the past few decades, climate change and economic challenges have resulted in a wide range of commodities fitting the definition of staple food. These commodities include beans, sweet potatoes, groundnuts and dozens of horticultural crops. Curiously, the high demand and supply of eggs in big markets such as Mbare and Bulawayo has resulted in eggs joining the staples family.
Many agricultural commodities are now meeting both household food security needs and income requirements. If more than 60 percent of farmers in a particular community are producing a particular crop both for food security and for the market, such a crop becomes a staple.
While the definition of cash has traditionally referred to cotton and tobacco at the exclusion of horticultural commodities, a changing climate is causing farmers to choose commodities that can balance both food security and income needs. For most tobacco farmers, the decision to grow tobacco is based on the extent to which it can generate income for acquiring food while meeting other socio-economic needs. For instance, growing tobacco enables farmers to afford vegetables, small grains and tubers, among other food requirements.
Silent transition
A significant part of Zimbabwe’s population has silently moved to a staple bas- ket which meets both food security and economic needs. Major crops in this category are potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, leafy vegetables and rice (imported). These commodities are taking the place of wheat which used to be a key staple. People can now easily prepare breakfast with these commodities without paying attention to wheat production.
There are also numerous overlaps where the same commodities can substitute maize. One can have rice and tomatoes as lunch instead of sadza and vegetables. Breakfast with sweet potatoes has become a common staple for many households especially when sweet potatoes are in season. Groundnut is also competing in the staples olympics by being either a substitute for or complement to cooking oil through peanut butter. It is no longer just a food crop but a cash crop.
Need to support the economic role of new staple crops
Although everyone seems to be witnessing this interesting transition, what is lacking for most of these new staple commodities is the development of the economic side — markets, agronomic and extension support. Extension services continue to focus mainly on maize. Yet new staples such as horticulture crops and tubers need both agronomic and market knowledge. Since horticultural crops are no longer grown as relish for individual households but sources of income, they deserve proper and thorough extension advisory services.
Besides satisfying the food security needs of the majority of urban households who throng markets like Mbare, Sakubva, Bulawayo, Gweru and Masvingo, more than 90 percent of rural households now depend on the new staples for their livelihoods. Some of these crops are influencing decision making in different farming communities.
For instance, where sweet potatoes do very well, farmers are being compelled to grow the crop. Gokwe farmers have shifted from cotton to sweet potatoes because returns from cotton were no longer enough to meet their economic and staple food needs. Unfortunately, there is no policy supporting the whole sweet potato value chain. There are only a few scattered NGOs trying to produce sweet potato flour, chips and other products.
The dilemma of incomplete value chains
What is needed is a consolidated value chain support system rather than a few piece-meal activities that lack sustainability. For most of these commodities, value chains have not been properly developed to include processing and preservation. Once the value chains are completed, it becomes easy to meet socio-economic needs in a sustainable manner as well as develop support systems. An increase in the number of people growing a particular commodity is a clear definition of its staple food status.
Consumption patterns have also shifted markedly from maize to a wide range of commodities. Policy makers and development partners should pay attention to all these developments including changing consumer tastes and preferences. It is becoming very clear that production is heavily influenced by end users.
These provide indicators of what should be produced and supported. Instead of just deciding to support goat or sorghum value chains in isolation, watching consumer trends can be very instructive. We have good policies around nutrition but lack support mechanisms. A balanced nutrition can still be accessible in a drought year if people use their resources wisely.
Honde Valley and Chimanimani have traditionally been known for bananas and other fruits but we are not doing much to develop robust value chains around these commodities. Farmers in Honde Valley still struggle to sell their bananas and other fruits unless they are contracted by companies which, in most cases, do not provide enough knowledge in order to keep obtaining the commodities for a song. In areas where small grains do well, what are we doing to promote their value chains? Where livestock is a major economic driver, value chains remain very weak.
Need to decentralise processing from urban centres
We continue to promote food processing and manufacturing in big urban centres such as Bulawayo and Harare yet, these value addition activities should be happening in production zones. Such a situation enables skills transfer, employment creation. It is more ideal for semi-processed or finished products to be moved where they are needed than continue moving raw materials to urban centres. Who says processing plants should be in urban areas when it may be cheaper to process at source than move all raw commodities to Harare? Potato crisps should be produced in areas where potatoes are common. We struggle to sell our commodities due to some of these avoidable costs.
The Buy Zimbabwe Campaign will remain a meaningless campaign if local products are not available. When people are going outside the country to import potatoes and onions to meet market demand, it is an indication that these commodities have become important staples for the majority of buyers who cannot do without them.
Some commodities like bananas, carrots and others have become staples as shown by how people rush to import each time there is a shortage. The growth in urban population is also re-defining staple foods through consumer tastes and preferences. People living at Growth Points and business centres are also embracing urban lifestyles and food habits.
Food basket versus staple food
Instead of assessing a few commodities like maize, beans and small grains, national crop and livestock assessments should develop a methodology that looks at the entire evolving food basket in the country. Surveys should be broadened to figure out the extent to which changing consumer tastes are influencing agricultural production practices.
The assessments should also go further and examine trade-offs between food commodities and non-food commodities such as tobacco. For instance it is important to find out the impact of an increase in tobacco production on the production of other crops.
While we can be earning more than $200 million from tobacco exports, what could be the cost of tobacco production to the environment and other commodities? If 30 percent of arable land in Hurungwe