Farmers from one of Zimbabwe’s prime agricultural areas, Umguza Irrigation Lots (UIL) in Matabeleland North Province, have scaled down farming operations due to rising input and production costs.
This is according to Antony Khepha Dube, chairperson of the UIL.
He said that a number of farmers had even abandoned their plots entirely while others had scaled down production.
“Farming is no longer viable due to the high cost of inputs such as fertilisers, which now cost over $400 for a bag of 50kgs.
“Electricity also went up by 300 percent, the same as water. Most farmers are reeling under huge debts owed to utilities. The Zimbabwe National Water Authority has already sent warning letters to most of the farmers threatening to cut water supplies due to outstanding debts.”
He added that “most farmers are also failing to till their land because of erratic fuel supplies”.
Most of the UIL farmers are beneficiaries of the government’s land reform programme aimed at distributing the resource equitably among the majority while also enhancing productivity.
The UIL was one of the biggest producers of horticultural produce in Matabeleland North, supplying Bulawayo and a number of districts in the province. – Zoë van Rooyen
