Zim food secure, says President
ZIMBABWE’S food security is guaranteed, with the country set to hold a grain surplus in excess of 100 000 tonnes carried over from last season’s bumper harvest this year, President Mnangagwa has said.
Writing in his column for The Sunday Mail, President Mnangagwa said the Government was introducing a cocktail of interventions to stimulate grain production and climate-proof agriculture to ensure the country was food secure at all times.
He said measures being rolled out included reviewing the grain producer price, accelerating the development of irrigation programmes and facilitating localisation of the production of key agriculture inputs.
The President said the Presidential Input Support Programme will also be enhanced, with inputs set to be distributed before the onset of the summer cropping season, while the Pfumvudza programme would be streamlined through the introduction of efficient tillage technologies.
“The just-ended 2021-22 season has not been that good,” said President Mnangagwa.
“It was slow to start and characterised by poor and erratic rains.
“As if that was not bad enough, the country was hit by a severe early-tomid-season drought which subjected most crops to severe moisture stress.
“As I indicated, five provinces
(Manicaland, Masvingo, Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and South) were hit hardest and could not recover.
“Because of that, our harvest has
come down to 1,8 million tonnes, 400 000 tonnes short of our yearly national requirement of 2,2 million tonnes.
“Thankfully, our Strategic Grain Reserves, SGR, hold 500 000 tonnes from the 2020-21 season.
“That means we exceed yearly national grain needs by some 100 000 tonnes, which we expect to remain in SGR until the next our ◆