AGRICULTURE PROGRAMMES SET TO BOOST THE SECTOR: 2020 BUDGET

By Admire Machiwenyika
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube yesterday while presenting the 2020 National Monetary Budget unpacked a series of programmes that are set to boost the agricultural sector.
A cocktail of programmes backed by the allocation of a ZWL$1,9 billion is set to revamp the sector that is hogged by drought and unpredictable farming seasons.
“Unfortunately, the 2019 budget faced a very difficult economic environment which was aggravated by a severe 2018/19 drought which caused food insecurity and depressing electricity generation, with negative spill-over effects to the rest of other sectors of the economy,” said Ncube.
The Minister went to highlight programmes to curtail all the agricultural hurdles that include embracing smart agriculture, dealing with climate shocks, agriculture extension services, irrigation and food security, compensation of commercial farmers and better planning.
“Embracing Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) will improve prospects for the agriculture sector, which is projected to grow by at least 5% in 2020. This growth is attributable to a better rainfall during the 2019/2020 season, supported by timely disbursements of inputs.
“In line with this thrust, emphasis will be on better planning, shared financing burden between Government and private players, productivity which also relies on irrigation and marketing systems which guarantee farmer viability,” he explained.
Ncube added that over the years, Zimbabwe has been experiencing severe droughts at a rate of 1 in ten years and mild droughts of 1 in 3 years and he emphasized the need to shift from rain-fed agriculture to a drought-proofing the sector.
“Government is, therefore creating a fiscal buffer to the tune of ZWL$165 million to cater for drought shocks, as well as strengthening the early warning systems. Other, drought-proofing measures such as investment in irrigation infrastructure, dam construction and desalination as well as research and extension services, adoption of drought-resistant varieties (traditional grains) will be put in place during the 2020 agricultural season,” he added.
The 2020 Budget allocates ZWL$281.5 towards agricultural extension and advisory services to facilitate dissemination of agricultural information, new technologies and improved agricultural practises.
The Minister went to emphasise on the need to adopt irrigation development as a top priority and capable farmers will be identified and contracted to produce targeted of around 1,8 million tonnes specifically for food security.
For the total irrigation programme, the Budget provides ZWL$422.8 million, ZWL$ 521,8 million for veterinary, ZWL$380,0 million for farmer compensation, ZWL$340,1 million for agriculture education and extension services, ZWL$176,6 million for crop and livestock research technology and lastly ZWL$63,5 million for land survey and mapping.
According to Minister Ncube, the Command Agriculture programme will seize to be a government-led initiative to bank-led programme, with the government providing guarantees to banks.