Zimbabwean government and agriculture (1980-1990), Developments?

Advanced level Zimbabwe History Question and Answer

Evaluate the measures taken by the government of Zimbabwe in its attempt to develop agriculture from 1980-1990.

With Brian Maregedze

Define,
evaluate- draw conclusions from examining or assessment
Agriculture- the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.
Agriculture is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy inasmuch as Zimbabweans remain largely a rural people who derive their livelihood from agriculture and other related rural economic activities. It provides employment and income for 60-70 percent of the population, supplies 60 percent of the raw materials required by the industrial sector and contributes 40 percent of total export earnings.

Three main policy frameworks have affected the performance of agriculture in Zimbabwe in the past two decades. First, there was the “growth with equity programme” pursued by the government between 1980 and 1990. It sought to redress the colonial legacy in favour of communal farmers. Second, there was the “structural adjustment market-oriented reforms”, the Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP), adopted in 1991. Finally, with more profound implications for the sector, there was the programme of “fast-track land resettlement and redistribution”For the purpose of the question under study more attention is paid to 1980 to  1990 started in 2000 and currently in progress.

Measures taken by Government (1980-1990)
1. Protection of large scale Commercial farmers as a condition of the Lancaster House willing buyer willing seller- this had the merit of leading to the gradual increase in the country's agricultural exports from Z$409.2 million in 1981 to Z$1.1 billion in 1988
Financial institutions had confidence in  large scale commercial farming
Large scale farms drew on cheap, long term finance obtained both domestically and offshore

2 . reconciliation policies pursued by the then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe
3.provision of subsidies, free access to seed and fertilizer packs.
In 1986, government took measures to stimulate production through export incentives, introducing the
Export Retention Scheme and the Export Revolving Fund and foreign exchange allocations in favour of
exporters. Air transport was improved, the Horticultural Promotion Council was formed, and the communal areas management programme for indigenous resources (Operation Campfire) was established towards the end of the 1980s. In addition, government policy indirectly stimulated export production through the relatively low government-set producer price for maize, which made many commercial farmers diversify into cash crops destined for the more lucrative export markets.

However
Despite following the above policies, it goes without saying that loopholes could be identified
1. Formal employment decreased from 327,000 in 1980 to 284,600 in 1989.
2. Unequal access to financial resources for communal farmers under Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) this implies that loans reached only a small percentage of the rural population.

By the early 1990s, the interventionist policies had reached their limit and could not be sustained any
further, forcing government to embark on market- oriented reforms including in agriculture. The market reforms adopted in 1991 were aimed at market deregulation, liberalization and export promotion
(Government of Zimbabwe, 1991).

More information can be added

For more information Contact us +263779210440 or follow the Facebook page Brian Maregedze or like the page Divinity and History A level

Sources to Consult
Beyond the Enclave
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4632e/y4632e0y.htm, accessed on 19 September 2016