Mrs. Joyce Mujuru, Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. She represented Zimbabwe at a United Nations Summit, the G-192, in New York earlier this year.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
By Kuda Bwititi
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail
VICE-PRESIDENT Mujuru has called on stakeholders in the agriculture sector to work together in coming up with effective strategies that ensure fair prices for farming produce.
She said this approach would help ensure farmers get competitive prices for their produce. Speaking at the Kadoma District Agricultural Show yesterday, Cde Mujuru said maize and cotton producers were shortchanged during this year’s marketing season, as the returns did not tally with their efforts.
“Government is concerned by the poor pricing of agricultural products, especially maize and cotton,” she said.
“We are now advocating an all-stakeholder approach to address this anomaly. Farmers work hard, but it is sad that they get peanuts for their products.
“We want to warn all those fly-by-night merchants that are shortchanging farmers that they are living on borrowed time.”
Vice-President Mujuru advised farmers to add value to their produce and to establish downstream industries in order to widen their income streams.
“Value addition is a key factor to address poor marketing policies. By adding value to their produce, farmers also initiate development of downstream industries, which help to enhance capacity and create employment in the sector,” she said.
“There are a lot of by-products, which can be extracted from crops and farmers need to be empowered with the necessary expertise to get such products.”
She also urged farmers to engage agriculture experts in their operations in order to increase their chances of reaping higher yields during this year’s summer cropping season.
She said home-grown solutions were central to Zimbabwe’s efforts to boost agricultural output.
“Zimbabwe has the potential to retain its status as the breadbasket of the region, but this can only be achieved if we adopt home-grown solutions and avoid over-reliance on external forces,” she said.
“We should also adopt a paradigm shift and support local investment in agriculture because there is a misplaced notion that indigenous players in the agriculture sector will not succeed.”
Vice-President Mujuru said farmer organisations should compile a comprehensive database of all agricultural activities in the country for planning and policy formulation purposes.
The 96th edition of the Kadoma District Agricultural Show attracted 32 exhibitors drawn from Kadoma, Mhondoro, Ngezi and Sanyati. Show chairperson Mrs Evelyn Ndoro said 14 new exhibitors showcased their products at the event.
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