Source: IRIN News

Zimbabwean agricultural experts have warned that the prohibitive cost and non-availability of farming inputs like fertiliser could affect next year's harvest.

Thulani Mkhwananzi, spokesperson for the government's Agricultural Research Extension in the western province of Matabeleland North, told IRIN: "The situation is really bad here, especially considering that the farmers have little support from government. What they need most is seeds at relatively low prices, because most of them are poor and unemployed.

"It is just a few who rely on remittances from their relatives outside the country who manage to secure all the necessary implements," he added.

Seed Co., the country's main seed supplier, has warned of a serious deficit and was quoted in the official Herald newspaper as saying that the country needed to import 10,000mt of maize seed to meet the demand in the current planting season.

Two months ago, the agricultural ministry also terminated a three-year old policy of providing free fertilisers and seeds to farmers who had been allocated land under the fast-track land reform programme that began in 2000.

Most agricultural inputs are imported and beyond the financial reach of many farmers, who are suffering the combined effects of Zimbabwe's steadily deteriorating economy and last season's low yields after widespread shortages of chemicals, fertilisers and seed. Independent estimates suggest only 800,000mt of maize was harvested this year, or about two-thirds of the country's annual requirement; the government has insisted that around 1.8 million mt were produced.

Despite denials of a shortfall by government officials, a recent USAID-funded report on informal trade in Southern Africa said Zimbabwe would have to import cereals. According to the South African Grain Information Service, Zimbabwe has imported nearly 100,000mt from South Africa since April this year.

The May 2006 Zimbabwe Vulnerability assessment, yet to be released, identified 1.4 million people as critically in need of food assistance.

With less than a month before the farming season starts, Thandolwenkosi Nkomazana, a subsistence farmer in Matabeleland North, is still battling to secure seeds, fertiliser and spare parts for his worn-out ox-drawn plough. His main problem, he said, is not necessarily the availability or non-availability of the inputs, but the cost.

"Seeds are available at the shopping centre, including spares for a plough, but the problem is that I don't have money to buy them. They are just too expensive. In fact, many villagers here can barely afford [the inputs], and the worry is that planting will be starting very soon," said Nkomazana.

His dilemma is shared by subsistence farmers across the country. Despite an attempt by government to impose price controls on agricultural inputs, producers have repeatedly hiked prices, arguing that they want to keep pace with inflation, currently at over 1,000 percent annually.

A 10kg bag of maize seed costs an almost unaffordable Z$10,000 [about US$40], and the same amount of fertiliser goes for Z$40,000 [about US$160]. Surveys by IRIN in revealed that seeds were still available in most shops in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, and in rural areas.

Agriculture minister Joseph Made told IRIN that the government was aware of the problems farmers were facing, and said his ministry, Seed Co. and other related companies were discussing the issue of prohibitive prices.

"We are working towards the harmonisation of prices, so that all farmers, peasant or commercial, can buy all the implements they need without forking out a lot of money," he said. "We are not neglecting any farmer."

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]