Harare, (New Ziana) – Preparations for the 2024/25 agricultural season are now at an advanced stage with 50 percent of the inputs for the presidential climate-proofed Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme now in place for distribution, a senior government official said Monday.

Giving oral evidence before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary, Prof Obert Jiri said movement of the inputs to the beneficiaries should be completed by mid next month.

“We wanted to be as early as we must at this particular time, but the season is now starting, and we have out there 50 percent of our seed, 49 percent of our compound D fertilizer is now out there, which is the major bulk input. We think that we should be done, if resources are found today, we should be done moving the fertilizer by mid-November, and we should be able to move all the inputs. I think by the end of this week, all the seed we require will be out in the farms, except mainly traditional grains, some of it has to be imported,” he told the committee.

Prof Jiri, however, said the main challenge was financing of the Pfumvudza programme as part of past supplies are yet to be paid for.

“The main challenge is certainly the financing of this. Our contractors whom we have Value seeds, FSG fertilizer, ZFC fertilizer, and the Quoton seed, are owed in excess of more than US$300 million dollars for the 2020-2021 season, 2021-2022 season, 2022 to-2023 season, and to date. So we owe them quite a lot, and this is what delays the movement, because if we do not pay, they cannot move the inputs. Prof Jiri said farmers have prepared 86 percent of Pfumvudza plots.

New Ziana