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Zimbabwe's agricultural mechanization programme - probably the biggest such agro-industrial enterprise anywhere in the world at the moment - is firmly placed at the center of the country's economic turnaround efforts, reports Mabasa Sasa.

In the 2008 budget announced on 29 November, Finance Minister Dr Samuel Mumbengegwi allocated agriculture, agricultural engineering, farm mechanization and irrigation a total of $73 trillion as part of government efforts to boost economic productivity.

This is in addition to Z$97 trillion that has been set aside for crop inputs support and a further Z$107 trillion for dam construction. The central bank governor, Dr Gideon Gono, had already dubbed 2007-2008 as "the mother of all agricultural seasons," a phrase that has certainly caught the attention of the nation. When presenting the 2008 budget, Dr. Mumbengegwi forecast the economy and agriculture to grow by 4% in 2007 on the back of increased productivity in tobacco, soya beans, horticulture, groundnuts, sunflower and tea.

This year, tobacco output rose from 55,000 tonnes the previous year to 77,000 tonnes (in monetary terms, this means tobacco raked in close to US$220m for the national economy) and this is expected to grow to around 120,000 in 2008.

Groundnuts production shot up from 83,000 to 125,000 tonnes while 102,000 tonnes of soya beans were reaped this year as compared to 70,000 tonnes in 2006.

Horticultural output also went up by around 2,000 tonnes to 66,000 tonnes in 2007 while significant increases in production were also witnessed in the realm of sunflowers. However, production of the country's staple food, maize, declined from over 1.4 million tones to just under a million due to the drought and also due to intermittent power supplies. This also affected winter wheat harvests.

Nevertheless, the finance ministry expects agricultural exports to rise to around US$375m this year, representing a contribution of 21% to total export receipts.

In his budget speech, Dr. Mumbengegwi said: "The thrust of the 2008 is geared towards stabilizing the economy, increasing productivity and lowering inflation which will be driven by agriculture. Accordingly, budgetary support and other fiscal incentives will be provided to agriculture and other productive sectors."

Mechanization programme
The realization of this season relies heavily on the success of the government's farm mechanization programme. Under the first two phrases of the programme, which is being jointly run by the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Mechanisation and Irrigation, and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, over 2,500 tractors have already been distributed. In addition, around 100 combine harvesters have been distributed to selected farmers as well as over 70,000 ox-drawn implements.

Dr Joseph Made, the Agricultural Engineering and Mechanization Minister says: "The exercise of mechanization is part of the broader programme of our land reform, and it has been clear to us as a government that we have to seriously look at the machinery aspect of production.

"Zimbabwe requires around 50,000 tractors and so we have compiled a 50 year strategy document that will see the importation of our machinery requirements. We look forward to importing 10,000 tractors by the end of the first year of the mechanization programme.

The Minister pointed out that small-scale farmers were not neglected under the programme as under Phase Two, 750 animal-drawn ploughs were distributed in each of the country's 56 districts. Also distributed were thousands of harrows, 1,000 animal-drawn planters, and 25,000 cultivators. "This has been a boon for the economy because the animal-drawn implements and other equipment have been manufactured locally.

"And it is not just Zimbabwe's economy that has benefited from this exercise. The countries supplying us with tractors and combine harvesters have also reaped the rewards of our massive mechanization programme."

The surprising thing is that some of the countries that have supplied the tractors and the combine harvesters include Zimbabwe's staunchest critics in the West who have imposed economic sanctions on the country, including the USA. So does this mean that Zimbabwe or the US itself is involved in some weird form of sanctions busting? Dr Made laughs, "No, no, this is not quite what you would call sanctions busting. Sanctions are very real and they are hurting our economy and the ordinary people. What is happening is that there are business people in the US and Europe who see the business side of Zimbabwe's Land Reform Programme, and they want to be part of it."

The other countries which have sold equipment to the mechanization programme are Italy, Brazil and a number of Asian countries, in particular China, which extended a loan facility that has gone a long way in making the vision a reality.

Mostly though, Zimbabwe has had to pay cash for these imports and this gives the lie to the myth that the economy is on the brink of collapse. After all, there is no way a basket case economy can pay hard currency in advance for the importation of thousands of tractors and combine harvesters.

Irrigation has not been neglected either by the mechanization programme. Made's ministry and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe have been upgrading the irrigation equipment in the country, ranging from flood technologies, center pivots and drip irrigation.

There is also a robust drive to rehabilitate infrastructure on the farms as well as dairy production facilities, which the Finance Ministry says should grow from 80 million to 100 million litres in 2008.

"There is this misconception that when we embarked on the land reform programme, we inherited good infrastructure from the white commercial farmers. The truth is that there was a lot of vandalism on the farms, and thousands of mechanized equipment were smuggled out of the country before the government had acted.

"Furthermore, some of the equipment we found on the acquired farms was old and dilapidated and there in lies the need to roll out a huge mechanization programme," explained Dr Made.

While equipping farmers with their technology needs, Made said, extension and training services would be provided to ensure beneficiaries knew how to properly calibrate and maintain their new equipment.

"We have to bring knowledge to the farmers because it would be senseless to give them equipment that will be quickly run down. Our final objective is top create a rural based agro-industry that is self-sufficient," Made added. "We should not forget that the rural electrification programme has been resuscitated and this will go hand in hand with our own efforts to develop presently marginalized areas. We should be able soon to manufacture most spare parts there in the rural areas and this will only improve the economy."

The mechanization programme has been one of the few national initiatives in the past seven years that has united Zimbabwe's major political parties. From the launch of the first phase, both Zanu PF and MDC members of parliament have had only good things to say about the programme. "This, said Dr Made, "is because everyone has realized that the government is not in the business of pursuing partisan policies in agriculture. Everyone is eligible to benefit from the mechanization programme.

"We have had allocations for traditional chiefs, MPs regardless of political affiliation, women's groups, youth groups, ordinary people and special interest groups. White farmers have also benefited, and we will continue to run this programme on a non-partisan basis," Made said.

"Also as long as one fits the criterion with which we determine beneficiaries, that person should get equipment. The issue of food security is not a party matter but a national question that requires our collective efforts. Don't let anyone lie to you that mechanization is a party programme. If you have land, we want you to be productive."

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