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Agriculture Reporter

THE Government will soon roll out various initiatives under the Horticulture Growth and Recovery Plan (HGRP) and the National Agriculture Policy Framework (NAPF) to boost horticultural production and enhance food security and incomes.

The move is in line with the country’s push to achieve an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

HGRP and NAPF are Government programmes that seek to stimulate both commercial and rural horticultural production to accelerate both domestic and export output and profitability and contribute significantly to food security and nutrition, import substitution, foreign currency generation, employment creation, diversification of rural economies and generating household incomes in pursuit of Vision 2030.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development deputy director responsible for Strategic Planning and Business Development, Mr Freeman Gutsa, recently told The Herald that value chain support in critical areas of aggregation, value chain governance, research and capacity building, improved access to markets and the provision of loans and revolving funds would play a critical role in supporting the horticulture sector.

“Various initiatives are set to be implemented to ensure the horticulture sector is indeed flourishing countywide. The establishment of an aggregation unit in each of the 59 districts in Zimbabwe where horticulture farmers meet and share knowledge and skills on how best they can boost the sector is key.

“Capacity building initiatives for farmers coupled with investment support training and dissemination of post-harvest research and technologies are vital. Training is the hallmark of Agritex to ensure success in terms of production with farmers expected to embrace horticulture farming and take agriculture as a business,” he said.

Lack of access to markets is the major setback to most horticulture farmers, hence improved access to markets is one of the initiatives, which the Government is set to implement to ensure that horticulture farmers get maximum profits.

“We want to improve access to markets through the establishment of a horticultural markets standards body to ensure that our horticulture farmers get maximum profits,” said Mr Gutsa

Mr Gutsa also called for the establishment of efficient infrastructure for marketing and logistics through coordination and route consolidation strategies that make horticulture farming attractive to farmers.

Chief executive officer Knowledge Transfer Africa (KTA) Mr Charles Dhewa said:

“Better market infrastructure like sheds at big food markets like Mbare Musika can protect perishable commodities from direct sunlight, as well as rain. Government should invest in markets the same way it is investing in irrigation, dams and road infrastructure.”

The Government initiated the HGRP to give impetus to the industry’s recovery after its performance dipped in recent years due to various economic issues.

Essentially, the Government aims to increase agriculture’s contribution to US$8, 2 billion to reverse the decline in food production through the Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan and revive serious trade on both domestic and export markets.

President Mnangagwa has since pledged to resolve unsettled land tenure matters and place agriculture at the epicenter of Zimbabwe’s economic policy with particular focus on exports, aided by the relaxation of the export procedures.