The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has revealed that it has achieved only 30% of its targets under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), as the agricultural sector continues to grapple with low productivity, subdued export levels, and high production costs Under NDS1, the government set ambitious targets to transform the agriculture sector, which include increasing food self-sufficiency from 45% to 100% by 2025, reducing food insecurity from 25% to below 10%, and boosting agricultural production and productivity, particularly among smallholder farmers The strategy also aims to ensure that 80% of the agriculture sector’s raw material needs are met through local inputs and to build a US$12 billion agriculture economy by 2025 Permanent Secretary for the Ministry, Professor Obert Jiri, acknowledged that the sector is far from reaching these goals, highlighting the need to modernise agriculture and address critical bottlenecks such as access to land, water, technology, and markets
“We still have so much to do to be able to impact the country and the economy I think if we decide to measure ourselves, we are still at a 3 out of 10,” Professor Jiri said “We need to be able to convert the production and productivity into value addition and beneficiation to be able to get the necessary exports and contribute to the Gross Domestic Product [GDP],” he added Professor Jiri stressed that investing in agriculture remains one of the most effective ways to uplift livelihoods and drive economic growth
“Any investment in agriculture is twice as powerful in improving livelihoods and contributing to GDP than any other industry,” he noted However, he conceded that current efforts have fallen short “We have not done enough We still need to ensure that we are able to attract the right investments
We still need to get to the right levels of productivity We still need to have a situation where we can reduce the cost of production,” Professor Jiri said He further emphasised the need for the sector to play a greater role in driving exports “Agriculture has the potential to contribute as much as 33% to the GDP, but is still hovering around 12%,” he said
“When we are hit by El Niño and other weather vagaries, you know, for example, we go down 12% We don’t want to do that We need to consistently contribute to the GDP in order for us to gain that breadbasket status and that label as an agro-based economy So, we have not yet got there,” Professor Jiri said
As part of the full realisation of NDS1, the government is promoting climate-smart agriculture practices, irrigation development—targeting 350,000 hectares—and investing in research into resilient crop and livestock varieties Despite Zimbabwe’s agricultural potential, low levels of value addition have undermined the sector’s contribution to the economy For instance, only 3% of the country’s total tobacco production is processed locally, significantly reducing the sector’s export revenue Source: Business Times
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Source: Businesstimes
