2005 Agricultural Performance Declines

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) December 21, 2005 Leonard Makombe 12/22/2005

By all measure, 2005 was not a good year for agriculture whose performance fell from a widely anticipated 28 percent growth to a negative 12,8 percent. This negative growth was confirmed by the Minister of Finance, Dr Herbert Murerwa, when he presented the 2006 National Budget earlier this month. Agriculture contributes between 18 percent and 20 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is the centre of gravity on which the entire economy orbits. This means when agriculture sneezes the rest of the economy catches a cold. A cumulative effect of three consecutive droughts has largely been blamed for the negative growth in the sector, something that was unforeseen and could not be averted. However, other factors also played their part, and at the top of the list are non-availability and late disbursement of critical inputs such as seed, chemicals and fertiliser. Three funding mechanisms were unveiled to the sector but sadly none of them did done enough to stimulate growth. First was the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Productive Sector Facility (PSF) where all the sectors of the economy including agriculture could get access to cheap funds, repayable after six months. Agribank also chipped in with cheap loans before the RBZ weighed in with the mammoth $7 trillion Agriculture Sector Productivity Enhancement Facility. Despite the support mechanisms, the sector was faced with critical shortages of inputs and this exposed the lack of capacity among the major agricultural players to meet demand. Supplies of seed and fertiliser for this season have, however, improved following injections of foreign currency by the RBZ. It had been anticipated that growth in agriculture would be underpinned by increases in tobacco, sugar, maize, wheat and cotton production. Tobacco production was a big disappointment, increasing by a paltry 5 million kilogrammes to 74 million kg. This marginal increase did not give any impetus to the agricultural sector as the drought and lacklustre preparations gnawed at the insignificant gains. Cotton production, which was also expected to buoy the sector, fell from 331 000 tonnes to 198 000 tonnes, also largely because of the drought. Tobacco and cotton contribute about 40 percent of the country's total foreign currency earnings. Maize and small grains are usually grown for food security and the drought and lack of preparations saw significant falls, requiring the country to import food. This put pressure on the meagre foreign currency resources available. Severe fuel shortages also threw into disarray efforts to increase production not only in cotton and tobacco but other crops such as paprika, cut flowers and cereals. Because of its drought tolerant characteristics, cotton is the only crop that can be successfully grown in rainfall regions 3, 4 and 5 in Zimbabwe where the average annual rainfall is 600mm or less. This area covers approximately 60 percent of Zimbabwe's total agricultural land, demonstrating how vital cotton is for a very large proportion of the rural economy. Cotton production has increased from 184 000 tonnes in 1980 to a peak of 353 000 tonnes in 2000. Prospects are high for improved performance in agriculture, with the Government projecting a 14,8 percent growth next year. Enditem