The millers association said they were withdrawing the funding because the government had failed to gazette a statutory instrument that would protect them from side marketing.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union President, Wonder Chabikwa, in an interview with The Zimbabwean, accused the millers of being insincere, saying they could have pursued other avenues to legally protect themselves from side marketing.
“If they were genuine, they could still have provided funding without the statutory instrument. They could have signed legally binding contracts with individual farmers and this would have protected them from the side marketing they are afraid of,” Chabikwa said. “As it stands, the wheat harvest for this year is going to be severely affected because there is no way farmers can grow wheat without funding.”
Chabikwa said it was difficult to fast track the government into signing such instruments but with wheat harvesting only beginning in September, there was still time to have it gazetted before farmers begin marketing their crop.
However, most farmers face serious problems in securing individual funding because of stringent security requirements. Commercial Farmers Union President, Charles Taffs, told The Zimbabwean that with such a development there would be no wheat this year. “There is very little money for wheat production. Wheat production is under threat because of a lack of funding,” he said.
He said this year was proving to be a challenging one for farmers because of a number of problems, the main one being uncertainty around elections. “We are going for an election and land is still an issue, so who is going to take a risk,” Taffs said.
The millers association said it contracted farmers in the 2009 to 2010 season but ended up facing serious problems because of side marketing. The association is now calling for government protection in the form of a legal instrument. The government earlier this year said it required $88,4 million to fund this year’s wheat season. The last day for wheat planting is 25 May.
Post published in: News