Episode 5: The Two Pillars of Productivity
In our last episode, we talked about the big, structural dilemmas facing Zimbabwean agriculture: the labour paradox and ways to counter the existential threat of climate change.
Today, we dive into two strategies that deal directly with the heart of our productivity problem: how to grow the economic engine, and how to lift the millions of farmers trapped in subsistence agriculture.
Large commercial farms are the engine of innovation and export
Zimbabwe’s agricultural future depends not only on achieving national food security but also on scaling up exports to regional and global markets. To achieve this, the country must actively promote and support established large-scale commercial producers, irrespective of their background. These producers are the essential drivers of growth.
Large-scale farmers are the engines of the economy for several critical reasons. They drive employment, technological innovation, and essential export earnings for the country. When operating at a certain scale, they can justify investing in the next generation of technology, genetics, and knowledge. These innovations — like the use of solar arrays, microjet irrigation, and high-yield genetics — don’t stay bottled up; they cascade down the value chain, influencing the entire sector.
The growth in this sector is not exclusionary; it actually generates upstream and downstream economic opportunities, supporting input suppliers, processors, and logistics firms, while creating off-farm jobs, particularly in remote areas.
I saw this cascade effect firsthand in Beitbridge:
In Beitbridge District, an established commercial farm supports the Shashe Irrigation Scheme, a communal farming cooperative, by helping to improve their citrus quality and providing them with access to its professional packing and export facilities.
Likewise, a large pecan producer in Matabeleland North has implemented an outgrower scheme, supporting smallholders to establish their own plantations, which will then be processed and exported through the main company’s facility.
This proves that large-scale commercial agriculture can facilitate market access and skills transfer for smaller producers. The success of these operators is vital to sector-wide progress.
To keep this engine running efficiently, we must create a genuinely enabling environment. This requires a coherent policy framework that removes punitive barriers and signals stability to investors.
This could be doing things like reforming the current foreign exchange regulations that penalise exporters by requiring them to convert a portion of their foreign currency earnings into local currency. This effectively acts as a tax on success and limits profits.
Incentives could also be provided for innovation, such as reducing tariffs and duties on the import of agricultural machinery and processing equipment.
It perhaps goes without saying, but maintaining stable macroeconomic and fiscal conditions across the entire economy is an obvious but important point to support large-scale commercial producers. Policy inconsistency and currency volatility erode business confidence and discourage long-term investment for producers at all scales.
This isn’t an argument for returning to the old system from the colonial era. It’s a modern, pragmatic argument that a strong commercial sector can lift productivity, standards, and wages across the entire value chain, creating more opportunities for A2 and smallholder farmers.
Lifting subsistence and small-scale commercial farmers
Now, let’s talk about what can be done to improve the outlook of the millions of subsistence farmers across the country, as well as the small-scale commercial producers.
The fact is, agriculture is the primary livelihood for nearly 70% of Zimbabwe’s population. If most smallholders are trapped in low-yield systems that are vulnerable to drought, then national food security remains vulnerable. A one-size-fits-all approach to agricultural support no longer works; we have two very different groups of small farmers, and they need two different kinds of support.
Our agricultural extension system, AGRITEX, must adopt a differentiated approach that targets support based on the farmer’s current situation.
For subsistence farmers
Support must be focused purely on achieving household food security and building resilience. This means aggressively promoting climate-smart conservation practices, like Pfumvudza, which has demonstrated immense potential for increasing yields and ensuring food security on small plots. The primary goal here is to help them accumulate enough capital to stop being dependent on government food aid or remittances after every drought.
For small-scale commercial producers
Support must focus on graduating them to formal, market-linked farming. This means that extension services should teach them modern agronomic methods, soil health, low-cost technologies, and business management. This is how small-scale farmers move from operating in the informal, cash-based economy to securing a contract to supply a processor or exporter, helping them to build a formal track record for finance.
Another key component of support to small-scale farmers is to create integrated market-linked value chains that empower the farmer. This involves two major strategies:
Promote contract farming and outgrower schemes: This is the immediate bridge for smallholders. A large processor — for example, a cotton ginnery or a tobacco buyer — enters a contract with a small farmer. The processor provides the necessary inputs, such as seed and fertilizer, on credit and guarantees a price for the final product. This immediately injects capital and secures the market, removing the farmer’s biggest risk.
Finally, we must recognize that large commercial operators, the focus of pillar one, should be incentivized to share their expertise and develop outgrower schemes. This is how we link the two groups, creating a virtuous cycle of knowledge and market access, and strengthening the overall system.
Unlocking the potential of agriculture means putting secure policies and stable support behind both the commercial engines and the smallholder base.
Join me for Episode 6, where we will dive into what is needed to secure investment, manage our water, and finally put the right crops in the right places.
Links
Check out my Nuffield Report on the Future of Farming in Zimbabwe here
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