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Zim misjudged food stocks
12/11/2004 10:15 - (SA)
Justin Brown
Johannesburg - The Zimbabwean government has seriously miscalculated the size of its grain stocks, according to a recently released report by the parliamentary portfolio committee on lands and agriculture, the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks (Irin) said on Friday.
The report, tabled in Zimbabwe parliament on Wednesday, revealed that despite predicted maize production of 2.4 million tons, as of October 15 the state-owned commodity buyer - the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) - had received only 388 558 tons.
The government had estimated that the four perennially drought-affected provinces of Masvingo, Midlands, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South would produce 1.2 million tons of grain.
However, only 28 465 tons has been made available to the GMB - just 2.3% of the forecast figure, the report said.
The 12-member portfolio committee, which began its work in June to establish levels of food stocks in the country, received oral evidence from GMB officials, among them its chief executive officer, Samuel Muvuti, as well ministry of agriculture staff, including permanent secretary Pavelyn Masoka.
The committee noted that it "failed to understand the huge gap between current deliveries to the GMB and the national crop forecast".
The main harvest period is in March/April, when, under normal circumstances, farmers deliver their grain to the GMB, which has a legal monopoly on the purchase of maize and wheat, Irin said.
According to the report, GMB and agriculture ministry officials said the deficit was because between 45% and 75% grain was still in the hands of farmers, who chose to withhold maize "for strategic reasons, as they were still [unsure] whether the coming season was promising to be good or not."
The committee said it was "uncomfortable" with this explanation.
Villagers feel the pinch
Farmers have reportedly been unwilling to sell to the GMB because of poor producer prices and the length of time taken by the commodity board to make payments.
Given the current rate at which grain is arriving at GMB depots, the parastatal would have received only 500 000 tons by the end of the year - well below national demand estimated at 158 000 tons of maize per month, said the report.
In addition, millers are reported to have scaled down their operations because of low grain supplies from the GMB.
This, analysts suggested, had adversely affected the availability of maize meal and flour in some areas.
The parliamentary committee recommended that the "ministry of agriculture and rural development immediately issue a revised crop production figure, based on actual yields, to enable the country to properly plan on the food situation."
It also suggested that areas in dire need of food should be thoroughly assessed to find solutions to avert famine.
In an informal survey, Irin found that some rural communities were already feeling the effects of food shortages.
In Chipinge South, villagers had resorted to wild fruits and their reserves of sweet potatoes.
Schools have also been affected by the food crisis, with one primary school Irin visited having suffered a one-third-dropout rate.
Makena Walker of the World Food Programme (WFP) told Irin that, at the request of the government, the WFP was providing supplementary feeding to close to 400 000 beneficiaries, mainly rural school children and vulnerable social groups, such as people living with HIV/Aids.
Earlier this year the government decided not to renew an appeal for international food aid and controversially cancelled a crop assessment mission by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the WFP, claiming the country would have a bumper harvest.
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