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Sifelani Tsiko Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor

The Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme started by Government three years ago to climate-proof agriculture and ensure smallholder farmers achieve high yields has helped the majority of smallholder farmers to gain access to quality seeds to support their livelihoods and help boost the country’s food security, the 2021 African Seed Access Index (TASAI) Zimbabwe country study has shown.

Presenting the findings of the 2022 TASAI study, Patience Nyakanda, a member of the research team said the programme had widened access to quality seed for the majority of poor farmers who often lack resources to buy seed on the open market.

“The Presidential Input Support Scheme has provided free inputs and seed to farmers since 2000 and Pfumvudza has helped a lot to widen access to quality seed by the majority of smallholder farmers,” she said.

“In 2021, all four focus crops (maize, beans, soya beans, sorghum) benefitted from the program. The openness and transparency of seed procurement processes were rated “good” (61 percent) on the back of the predictability of the process and efficiency.”

Most of Africa’s farmers are smallholders on less than two hectares of land and despite producing more than 80 percent of the food consumed on the continent, they often lack the high quality seeds and inputs needed for good yields.

Agricultural experts say enhancing seed availability to smallholders helps them to protect their crops from pests, disease and climate pressures.

This, they argue, is an important part of the solution to achieve a world free from poverty and hunger as set out under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Pfumvudza/Intwasa promotes adoption of conservation farming techniques and involves the utilisation of small pieces of land and applying the correct agronomic practices for higher returns.

The Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme is spearheaded under the Presidential Inputs Programme.

Under this programme farmers are given free inputs, fertilisers and chemicals and also offered technical advisory services by Agritex extension officers.

The programme has been hailed for improving access to seeds by smallholder farmers and for removing barriers that often limit farmers from accessing seed on the market.

However, Nyakanda said seed companies had expressed concern for late payments by the Government for seed delivered under the programme.

Experts also recommended sustainable seed availability strategies in the event that Government or donor funded free seed programmes come to an end.

The TASAI report showed that there were 4 881 extension officers in 2021 with 97 percent of them employed by the government and 3 percent by seed companies in Zimbabwe.

In the 2022 – 2023 cropping season, the Pfumvudza/Intwasa agricultural programme is targeting to support smallholder farmers to cultivate 1,9 million hectares of maize to help the country to produce about 3,2 million tonnes of maize against a national requirement of 2,2 million tonnes.

More than 2,3 million smallholder farmers had so far been trained under the Pfumvudza – Intwasa programme while the Government had distributed more than 10 000 tonnes of maize seed and 50 000 tonnes of fertiliser in this current summer season.

The African Seed Access Index (TASAI) initiative was established to help improve smallholder farmers’ access to a wider array of modern, more productive food crop varieties.

TASAI monitors the state of the continent’s seed sector and highlights problems that prevent seeds reaching farmers.

The findings of the initiative help to encourage public policymakers and development agencies to create and maintain enabling environments that will accelerate the development of competitive formal seed systems serving smallholder farmers in Africa.