RimaAfrika Trust conducted a baseline survey to find out the state of contract farming in rural Zimbabwe. It concentrated on tobacco and cotton farmers who are participating in contract agreements with companies like Voedsel, Premier Tobacco and COTTCO.
Below is a list of recommendations from the dialogue held with the farmers:
- Crop insurance is necessary to avoid losses related to climate change (last year floods).
- Bribery must be curtailed in the issuing of inputs under certain free input schemes.
- Timeous payments (some cotton farmers have not been fully paid for last season deliveries).
- Banks need to conduct mobile account creations to reduce hassles and extra costs for farmers through travel to towns.
- Strict measures have to be put in place to eliminate middlemen who hoard produce at low prices.
- Increase women access to productive assets (land).
- Extension services need to increase awareness on climate change to capacitate rural farmers for mitigation efforts.
Source: RimaAfrica Trust
