Spotlight Agriculture Revitalising agricultural production in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe’s agro-inputs supply chains collapsed during the decade-long recession that started in 2000. The worst-affected group were smallholder farmers in rural areas who did not have access to the right agro-inputs locally. Government and development agencies sought to solve the problem, but their agro-inputs programmes were mainly donation-based, so lacked sustainability. In 2007, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) invited SNV to develop innovative ways of re-establishing rural input supply chains (mainly seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and animal feeds). SNV’s initiative was to revive rural agroinput shops (known as agro-dealers) for the delivery of afFordable inputs to farmers. The result, the Rural Agro-dealer Restocking Project (RARP) was first implemented in 2009 as a pilot project funded by Cordaid (insurance) and FAO (capacity building), aiming to test the appropriateness of marketdriven input distribution methods in an emerging economic environment. The positive results of the pilot led to it being scaled up to cover all eight rural provinces in the 2010/2011 season, with 708 shops participating. This second phase of the project was developed and implemented with support from DANIDA, FAO and HELP, alongside donors like Cordaid, the Dutch embassy, GRM International, and DfID. Having proved the agro-dealer approach to be more sustainable than the free input hand-outs formerly promoted by donors and government departments, together the RARP supporters decided to expand the project into a nationwide programme 16 CONNECT #1 JULY 2012 “As farmers, we get money once a year and if you are not careful, you lose your income quickly. We are learning new planning methods through agro-dealers.” Senzeni Chitombe, farmer for the 2010-2011 agricultural season, later dubbed RARP II. In its first two phases, RARP contributed significantly to farmer access to seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and animal feeds. Through a relatively small investment of $112,000 in insurance against financial risks, 659 agro-dealers were linked to wholesalers to receive agricultural inputs. Some 500 agro-dealers were also trained in retail business management. Together the agrodealers distributed inputs worth over $9 million, reaching an estimated 113,800 farmers. The programme has now reached its third phase, targeting 750 agrodealers, at least six wholesalers and two insurance companies and will bring the total number of beneficiary households to at least 150,000. A revolving credit facility was established during RARP II with capital of $4.58 million. Total funds committed to the facility presently stand at $15 million (committed by DANIDA and DFID). Disbursements started in February 2012 in partnership with a commercial bank. Based on the idea of developing market-based solutions with an exit strategy for non-commercial players (development agencies and the government), RARP is addressing social and economic issues with a focus on restocking of agro-dealers with agricultural inputs. In this way key needs and risks of smallholder farmers are addressed, allowing them to obtain sustainable returns, and Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector is gaining a new lease on life. Pagina 15
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