Staff Reporter
The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has so far received enough grains at its various depots across the country which is adequate to sustain the nation for the next one and half years.
A highly placed source at the grain authority confided in this publication that grain stocks received at all the country’s depots warrant that the country will be food secure for the next one and half years.
“Grain stocks at GMB deports as at 20 February 2023 stand at 352 014 metric tonnes of maize and 62 262 metric tonnes of traditional grains. This means that the country will not rely on grain imports for the next year and a half, while wheat will sustain the country for a year,” said the source.
Samson Makuvaro, an agriculture specialist informed the Harare Post that the Second Republic's National Agriculture Policy Framework (NAPF) (2019-2030) is playing a positive role in making sure that the country’s agricultural sector blossoms.
"The overall goal of the NAPF is to create a stable enabling environment and flow of investment that sustainably enhances the capacity of the agricultural sector to anchor national economic growth to upper middle income status by 2030.
The other role of NAPF is to generate income and decent employment to feasible optimum levels, with a special focus on women and youth, as well as upgrade agriculture’s contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through productivity improvements in crop, livestock, forests and fisheries sector should", said Makuvaro.
Micheal Muchena a farmer in Mashonaland West applauded President Mnangagwa for listening to the challenges faced by farmers as the farming inputs came in time for the farming season.
"President Mnangagwa is a listening President and he has us the farmers at heart. Our farming inputs came in early for the farming season and this came as an advantage to us because we could plan and plant our crops in time,” said Muchena.
Meanwhile, the Government has been applauded by subsistence farmers for the introduction of Pfvumvudza which has helped many families to be food secure while significantly contributing toward the achievement of a food secure nation. This is in line with the village philosophy which President Mnangagwa mentioned at the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar.
