Excerpt
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Approval Form
Release Formii
Dedications
Acknowledgements
List of Acronyms
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Literature Review
Theoretical Framework
Conceptual Framework
Statement of the problem
Justification of the study
Objectives of the study
Research questions
Delimitation of the study
Research methodology
Research design
Types of research methods
Sources of data collection
Instruments for primary data collection
Instruments for secondary data collection
Population sample
Sampling method
Justification of the sample
Limitation of the study
Ethical considerations
Chapter breakdown
Endnotes
CHAPTER ONE: Historical development of Grain Marketing
Boards in Developing countries
Introduction
Development of marketing boards in Developing Countries
GMB in Zimbabwe
A comparison of GMB and private sector in Zimbabwe
Conclusion
Endnotes
CHAPTER TWO: Roles played by GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-
Introduction
Roles of GMB in Mrehwa District from 2001-
Endnotes
CHAPTER THREE: Impact assessment of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011
Success by GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District
Challenges to the promotion of food security in Mrehwa District
Conclusion
Endnotes
Bibliography
LIST OF APPENDIX
Appendix 1 Questionnaire for GMB Mrehwa District
Appendix 2 Interview Guide with Village Headman
Appendix 3 Interview Guide with Village Members
Appendix 4 Questionnaire for GMB Head Office
Appendix 5 Interview Guide with CRS.. ...
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to express my deepest appreciation to the Midlands State University at large,my immediate HHDS Department lecturers among other University staff not mentioned. Special mention also goes to the researcher’s direct Academic Supervisor Mr. H.T Chisi whose efforts, commitment, support and contributions resulted in several positive changes and finalization of this research project, without him this work would not have been completed.
Secondly, this research was made possible through the invaluable compliments, contributions and support from GMB Harare Head Office, GMB Mrehwa Depot staff and village heads and members of Ward 10 in Mrehwa District. GMB General Manager, Mr. Albert Mandizha, assisted by granting me the permission to carry out my research about GMB and assigned the department of Business Development Unit to provide with relevant information about my research.Mr. Zanza, Mrehwa Depot Manager, also played a pivotal role by providing relevant information about GMB operations in Mrehwa District and Village headman and village members from Ward 10 also provided information on GMB operations in their area. Therefore, my success in this research project would not have been possible without mentioning their invaluable support, cooperation and participation.
Last but not least, my deepest appreciation goes to my love, Juliana Murevi, family, relativesand close academic colleagues here at college among others who were my pillars of strength for their unwavering support and encouragement, at times financially during this research project and academicperiod. May the good Lord not only bless them but abundantly in all their endeavours, for this empirical research project and learning was made possible only because of their support, knowledge, commitmentandcooperativeparticipation.
LIST OF ACRONYMS
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ABSTRACT
The study assesses the effectiveness of Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Zimbabwe, particularly in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011. Qualitative research methods were used more frequently than quantitative research methods to gather information. The data collection instruments used included interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires and personal observation. Three villages were sampled out of the twenty two villages in Ward 10 using stratified random sampling. Collected data was presented using pie charts, tables and graphs. Main research findings were that GMB was ineffective in promoting food security in Mrehwa District due to social, political and economic factors.
INTRODUCTION
Food insecurity has emerged as one of the major developmental challenges in the third world countries and has become more intensely pronounced in recent years with the threat posed by recent trends, such as climate change, water, and rainfall scarcity, as well as ecosystems and biodiversity degradation exacerbating these problems1. Additional pressure has also emanated from the skyrocketing population growth and its simultaneous demand for food. Many of developing and developed countries have taken several measures to mitigate its impact. One of the main measures taken was to establish state controlled boards for instance in Zambia the National Agriculture Marketing Board (NAMBOARD), Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) in Malawi and National Cereals and Produce Board in Kenya and the Dominion Marketing Board in Canada were some of the state controlled boards responsible for marketing of grain so as to promote food security2. In 2001 the government of Malawi banned the private sector from buying imported maize from National Food Reserve Agency leaving ADMARC the sole agency authorised to sell imported maize so as to promote national food security3.
In Zimbabwe, the Grain Marketing Board was established under the Maize Control Act of 1931 as the Maize Control Board in response to the 1930 World Recession to address food insecurity challenges and renamed the Grain Marketing Board in 1951 when other crops, like rice and wheat, were added to its mandate4.The mission of GMB is to ensure food security in Zimbabwe through the marketing of grain related agricultural products with particular reference to staple food products, namely maize and wheat. The GMB is, as its name implies,an institution whose main function, is the orderly marketing of agricultural products, mainlygrains, oilseeds, edible beans and coffee within Zimbabwe, maintain strategic Grain Reserves, implement the Input Supply Credit Scheme to stimulate agriculture, provision of agricultural grain handling, storage and processing facilities and dealing with market failures, buyer of last resort5. The GMB buys a variety of crops from farmers and sells them into the domestic agro-processing industry in addition to exporting these products to regional and international markets when in excessand imports these products from both regional and international markets, when in short supply, so as to promote food security at both national and household level6.
This research is mainly focusing on assessing the effectiveness of Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Zimbabwe paying particular attention toMrehwa District,
Background to the study
With the advent of independence in 1980 the GMB expanded its coverage of collection points and depots countrywide from three in 1980 to thirty seven in 1991 and it announced producer prices in advance. This created incentives for farmers, especially the small scale commercial and communal farmers to sell their produce to the Grain Marketing Board which promoted huge grain reserves to avert food insecurity.
The Government of Zimbabwe also heavily controlled producer prices and the prices of basic commodities, such as mealie meal, bread and flour to promote both physical and economic access to food by all classes of the society.In terms of achieving national food security, this model produced success. Yet the situation on the ground was that of hunger at household level, amidst plenty due to distributional problems7.
Between 1985 and 1990 large scale maize production declined by more than 40 percent maybe due to poor pricing and diversification, from poorly priced food crops such as maize to cash crops such as tobacco and beans, accelerated in 1992 as large scale commercial farmers only planted 78 000 hectares of maize as opposed to 125 000 hectares in the previous year due to poor agricultural policies in relation to dilapidating Zimbabwean economy8.
In 1991 the government adopted the economic structural adjustment programme (ESAP) which resulted in the removal of agricultural subsidies and also saw the removal of GMB monopoly in the marketing of grain crops9. This made the role of GMB irrelevant as it was no longer able to compete with private grain traders who offered farmers better prices and payment conditions through Zimbabwe Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ZIMACE). Thisaffected national food security and strategic grain reserve programmes .The GMB failed to maintain the required grain reserves ,in 1998,of 900 000 tonnes of which 500 000 tonnes was to be physical stocks and 400 000 tonnes in the monetary equivalent 10.The government pricing strategy to ensure food security collapsed culminating in an increase in grain and maize meal prices worsening the food security status for both the urban and rural poor. The country’s shrinking economy and increasing retrenchments contributed to the decline in people’s entitlements thereby limiting their access to food.
Liberalisation allowed some farmers to realise their full potential while others lost out11. Largescale, commercial farmers gained more from their tobacco and horticultural exports, while small holder farmers were able to gain from growing cash crops such as tobacco, paprika and cotton. The debate on whether to grow cash crops rather than food crops widened. As commercial farmers moved away from maize as a commercial crop, food crop farming stagnated and this affected the national grain reserves making the country prone to food insecurity. The consequences of these policies on food security were not easily visible as domestic food supplies were still sufficient to cover the country’s needs in most cereals, other than wheat12.
The implementation of Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2000 greatly exposed the country to food insecurity as agricultural produce declined followed by general price hikes prompted by economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Britain13. This crippled the capacity of GMB to maintain food security as its grain supplies from farmers were meagre and this affected the maintenance of national strategic grain reserve exposing the country to food insecurity. The government through GMB has tried to deal with the situation by importing food as well as accepting food aid from donor and also played a more central role in the production, distribution and control of food supplies14.Therefore it was against this background that triggered the writer to conduct a detailed research on assessing the effectiveness of GMB in promoting food security in Zimbabwe from 2001to 2011.
Literature review
A literature review is a critical and in-depth evaluation of previous research .It is a summary and synopsis of a particular area of research allowing anybody reading the paper to establish why you are pursuing that particular research program15.A lot of literature has been written pertaining to the role of state controlled boards in promoting food security both in developing and developed nations.
According to Christopher Barrett in developed countries marketing boards are state-sponsored trading enterprises legally invested with monopolypowers to organize the marketing of agricultural commodities16. Among the boardswere the New Zealand Meat Producers Board and the New Zealand Dairy Board, eachestablished in 1922, the Australia Queensland Sugar Board of 1923, and the AustraliaWheat Board, formed in 193917. In Australia and New Zealand, marketing boards used import protection andhome consumption price schemes to stabilize producer price. The core purpose of the marketing boards was tomaintain or raise producer prices of basic agricultural commodities through acreagerestrictions, direct or indirect limits on saleable quantities, and price discrimination18. In addition, monopolies of processed products were legalized, leading to the organization ofprocessor and distributor schemes. The marketing boards thus held the monopoly powerto control supply, the terms of sale, and the channels and conditions of sale. Marketing boards in developed countries tend to subsidize farmers at the expense of consumers, as evidenced by their mandate to maintain high producer prices for farmers through limited supply19. One result is that marketing boards in developed countries have tended to generate windfall profits for the owners of farm land hence diverting from the concept of ensuring national food security. Therefore it has to be noted with concern that this literature was written in line with state controlled entities in developed countries which experienced different problems from those being faced in the contemporary developing world hence the research aims at assessing the effectiveness of these state controlled boards in a developing country in a rural environment to promote food security.
According to Jayne T S et al, in developing countries grain marketing boards commonly handle the strategic food reserves for emergency situations, and had the responsibility to import food in shortage seasons so as to maintain national food security20. These state controlled boards therefore held most of their nations’ inter-seasonal and inter-annualgrain storage capacity21.Through the boards, governments in developing countries typically fixed official producer prices for all controlled commodities often in a pan-seasonal and pan-territorial manner whereby a single price was set for the whole marketing season and maintaining extensive buying networks and storage facilities throughout the production regions. In Zimbabwe, GMB is responsible for maintaining the Strategic Grain Reserve which can be used to feed people in times of shortages. It was, therefore, suggested that instead of seeing private sector as a threat, private exchange should be seen as complementing the efforts of the GMB. If government then feels that market force prices are below what it perceives to be fair prices, it can always buy the produce itself, taking the role of purchaser of last resort22. Even though the GMB has in some instances offered higher prices for products, it hasn’t paid the farmers23. Hence this cripples the establishment of strategic grain reserve.
Food Reserve Agency in Zambia just like the Grain Marketing Board in Zimbabwe, were solely responsible for setting prices for controlled products so as to promote physical and economic access by people of all classes24. In September 2001, the grain trading parastatal, ADMARC, announced a fixed price for maize to be sold at its distribution centres and announced itsintention to import maize from South Africa to defend this price. Because ADMARC’s selling price was considerably lower than the cost of importingmaize, private traders had little incentive to import maize in this environment. However, the government imports arrived late and were not sufficient to meet demand. As a result, ADMARC depots began to experience stock-outs, and prices soared. When it became clear that ADMARC’s supplies were insufficient to last the full season, private traders scrambled to import, but for several months much of rural Malawiexperienced grain shortages and prices were reportedly as high as $450 per ton in early200225. The late-to-arrive ADMARC imports arrived during the good 2002 harvest. Forfinancial reasons, ADMARC had to work down its stocks to free up resources, and thesereleases onto the market in a good production year produced 16 months of continuouslydeclining maize prices, to the detriment of producers’ incentives to intensify their maizeproduction. Therefore there is need to assess the effectiveness of the roles of state controlled boards to promote food security so as to come up with stopgap measures to food insecurity.
Christopher Barrett made an observation that marketing boards in developed countries tend to subsidize farmers at the expense of consumers, as evidenced by their mandate to maintain high producer prices for farmers and the result is that marketing boards in developed countries have tended to generate windfall profits for the owners of farm land and othersector-specific assets in agriculture26. Whilst marketing boards in developing countries tend to subsidise both farmers and consumers so as to maintain prices and promote physical and economic access to food by all classes of the society. The mandate of state controlled boards in developed countries that is to maintain producer prices, differs from that of state controlled boards in developing countries, which aims at maintaining food security, due to varying socio-economic conditions that are being experienced in these two different worlds.
According to Michael T Weber state controlled boards in developing countries has provided farmers withInput Supply Credit Scheme and commodity pricing policies to stimulate agriculture and facilitate food security27. InZimbabwe, for instance, the GMB just like ADMARC in Malawi and NAMBOARD in Zambia, provided seasonal inputs to peasantfarmers and tillage services then deduct the value of the inputs from the payment made for marketed output at harvest time .In the 2005/6 season the Government of Zimbabwe announced a policy to give more support to A1 farmers under the input credit scheme, which is designed to promote food security at household level28. Whilst the effort is commendable, farmers has often complained of the late distribution of these inputs, often resulting in delays in planting maize and wheat crops and as a result reduced area put under production and a decrease in production. Credit programmes with low repayment rate contributed to fiscal deficits and in some cases macroeconomic instability. It also has to be noted with concern that the provision of more support to A1 farmers whilst neglecting communal farmers could have detrimental effects to national food security hence the need to assess the effectiveness to GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District in Ward 10 where A1 farmers does not exist.
According to Thomas Malthus in his theory Food Availability Decline the major cause of famines and food insecurity has been the growth in human population at a rate above that of food production29. Unlike Malthus, Boesrup argued that in the face of challenges of food availability the population will find ways to solve the situation. Therefore Boesrup acknowledged that population growth will lead to food security as he believed that necessity is the mother of invention30. Thomas Malthus only viewed population growth as the only cause of food insecurity and failed to take into account other probable causes like lack of entitlements, distributional problems and incompetence of marketing boards which are responsible in maintaining national food security. Thus both Malthus and Boesrup failed to acknowledge the roles of state controlled entities in promoting food security. Therefore this research seeks to assess the effectiveness of state marketing boards in promoting food security which was not done by Thomas Malthus and Boesrup in theirstudies on the causes of famines.
Theoretical Framework
As a yardstick of analysis, the Entitlement Theory developed in 1976, by Amartya Sen, is the major theoretical framework which this research project has adopted. The entitlement theory was propounded by Amartya Sen, an Indian Economist who challenged the view by Thomas Malthus that famines are caused by food availability decline (FAD) 31.Amartya Sen focused on two issues as causing food insecurity namely distributional problems and lack of entitlements. FirstlyAmartya Sen postulates that the critical issue is the way in which food is distributed rather than the volume of food itself32. Amartya Sen saw famines as a result of distributional problems. He argued that starvation is a characteristic of some people not having enough to eat and not the characteristic of there been not enough to eat33. Amartya Sen believed that agriculture production has kept pace with population growth in most parts of the world and this has proved true by GMB which has managed to import food from other neighbouring countries as it is responsible for promoting national food security hence the theory tries to focus on everything that is realistic . He argued that food insecurity persist because food produced is not equitably shared out between countries.
In his theory Entitlement Approach Sen explains how famines have been brought about locally through differential access to and commands over available supplies of food. Entitlements refer to power of any individual or group to acquire a decent diet, which is the ability to command food34. Peoples entitlements to Sen comprise the capital being possessed, the income they earn from selling their labourand supplements from family, state assistance and donor assistance among others. The entitlement theory is relevant in this study as it tries to focus on real things happening in the rural areas. According to Amartya Sen many peasants have entitlements in the form of small plots from which they produce food for consumption or they sell their livestock or they obtain their earnings from casual labour. However entitlements are not fixed and equal but vary according to an individual’sposition. Thus when a famine occurs, the burden of deprivation and hunger is not evenly spread. People starve because their entitlement to food fails because they became too poor to afford food which is physically available. These entitlement problems is a realistic in Mrehwa District where the peasants do not have money to buy food in times of shortages and money to buy agricultural inputs to promote food security and this has made the role of GMB relevant as it assist farmers by selling subsidised food and agricultural inputs. Therefore the entitlement theory is relevant to this study because it tries to focus on everything that is realistic.
Conceptual Framework
Since this research is focusing on the effectiveness of GMB in promoting food security in Zimbabwe, there is need to define the concept of food security. Food security is a multi-faceted concept, variously defined and interpreted. According to Khemmarath S, food security is to assure enough food and foodstuffs for every person at any time, both in material and economic aspects, with increasing demand on nutritional quality, hygiene and balance so as to improve health and enable normal development and efficient work35. World Bank defines food security as, access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life and according to Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) food security is when all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life36. FAO identifies four conditions towards ensuring food security: adequacy of food supply or availability; stability of supply without fluctuations or shortages from season to season or from year to year; accessibility to food or affordability; and, quality and safety of food.
Despite the availability of many varying definitions, the definition that was adopted at the World Food Summit in 1996 incorporates the fundamental concepts of each of the above definitions and will serve as the basic definition of food security for this research: According to the World Food Summit, food security is when all people at all times have both physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life37.
The concept of food security went through various transformations. Food security as a concept originated only in the mid-1970s, in the discussions of international food problems at a time of global food crisis. The initial focus, reflecting the global concerns of 1974, was on the volume and stability of food supplies. Food security was defined in the 1974 World Food Summit as; “availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices”38 . However food can be available but due to economic constrains, people may fail to access it. Therefore the above definition only emphasised on food availability without dwelling in food access hence did not comprehensively define the concept of food security.
In 1983, FAO expanded its concept to include securing access by vulnerable people to available supplies, implying that attention should be balanced between the demand and supply side of the food security equation ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food that they need.
In 1986, the highly influential World Bank report “Poverty and Hunger” focused on the temporal dynamics of food insecurity. It introduced the widely accepted distinction between chronic food insecurity, associated with problems of continuing or structural poverty and low incomes, and transitory food insecurity, which involved periods of intensified pressure caused by natural disasters, economic collapse or conflict. This concept of food security is further elaborated in terms of: “access of all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life”39.
By the mid-1990s food security was recognized as a significant concern, spanning a spectrum from the individual to the global level. However, access now involved sufficient food, indicating continuing concern with protein-energy malnutrition. But the definition was broadened to incorporate food safety and also nutritional balance, reflecting concerns about food composition and minor nutrient requirements for an active and healthy life. Food preferences, socially or culturally determined, now became a consideration. The potentially high degree of context specificity implies that the concept had both lost its simplicity and was not itself a goal, but an intermediating set of actions that contribute to an active and healthy life40.
The 1996 World Food Summit adopted a still more complex definition: “food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels [is achieved] when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”41.
This definition is again refined in The State of Food Insecurity 2001:“food security is asituation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”42.
This new emphasis on consumption, the demand side and the issues of access by vulnerable people to food, is most closely identified with the seminal study by Amartya Sen. Abstaining from the use of the concept of food security, he focuses on the entitlements of individuals and households.
Food security includes three components which include:
Food Availability: Food is available when there are adequate quantities of good quality foodstuffs so as to provide the nourishing elements and calories necessary. Total availability combines both foods available from production and from imports43. Therefore it is one of the duties of GMB in Zimbabwe to promote food availability by maintain national strategic grain reserve and importing grains in times of shortages.
Food Access: a situation where individuals have adequate incomes or other resources to purchase or barter to obtain levels of appropriate foods needed to maintain consumption of an adequate diet/nutrition level44. Food access can be determined by the people’s entitlements which give them the capacity to exchange for food in times of shortages.
Food Utilization/Consumption: is when food is properly used; proper food processing and storage techniques are employed; adequate knowledge of nutrition and child care techniques exists and is applied; and adequate health and sanitation services exist45 .
Statement of the problem
Prevalence of food insecurity and distributional problems despite the presence of GMB which have the mandate of promoting food security and marketing of various agricultural products in Zimbabwe, even during periods of good harvests , have remained of prime concern. This problem has prompted theresearcher to assess the effectiveness of GMB in promoting food security in Zimbabwe.
Justification of the study
Severe food insecurity challenges have continued to become prevalent in developing countries. It is a people’s right to access food and is also a states’ obligation to feed the nation. Food insecurity hascaused severe starvation and also drawn much of the resources meant for other developmental purposes hence crippling socio-economic development. Food security is the critical factor for human development and it helps to facilitate other developmental processes.
Zimbabwe was once regarded as the bread basket of Africa, but has changed to a food importer35. Therefore the research will identify factors militating against the attainment of bread basket status and give recommendations so as to restore the lost status.The research findings will also go a long way in assisting policy makers with strategic information on what to prioritise when making polices and those who promote national food security on how to overcome some of the various challenges that are militating against the promotion of food security
Many scholars have concentrated much on researching on the roles of these state controlled boards hence this research aims at assessing the effectiveness of the roles played by these state owned entities.MrehwaDistrict have faced food insecurity challenges even if the economy records good harvests therefore this research aims at assessing the effectiveness of Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Zimbabwe.
Objectives of the study
Research objectives give an overall description of the project’s context, that is, what a researcher wants to know more about or better understand47.
- To give a historical background of GMB and the concept of food security in Zimbabwe
- To identify and describe the role of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa district FROM 2001-2011.
- To assess the effectiveness of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa Districtfrom 2001-2011.
Research questions
Research questions set research boundaries and give direction towards data collection. In this research, the researcher seeks to answer the following questions:
- What roles have been played by GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011?
- What challenges have been faced by GMB in trying to promote food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011?
- Did GMB managed to promote food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011?
Delimitation of the study
The research was carried out in Mrehwa District in Chidhakwa, Duku and Muneno villages in Ward 10. This area consists of a GMB depot which provides servicesto the whole of Mrehwadistrict. The research was confined to this area because the area has consistently recorded food insecurity even if the economy records good harvests.
Research methodology
Research methodology seeks to outline the research techniques applied by the researcher to make sure that the results of this research project are achieved48. It includes the research design, research population, research sample, and sources of data collection, sample size, justification of the sample size, data collection instruments and the limitations for each instrument.
Research Design
A research design is a plan or structure for an investigation. It can also be defined as a list of specifications and procedure for conducting and controlling a research project49. The goal of the research design is to provide results that are credible, resembling reality and are taken to be true and reasonable. In this research case study design was used so as to give practical evidence. In this case study population sample was used as a true representation of the wider population in Mrehwa District. The research seeks to assess the effectiveness of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011.
Types of Research Methods
By and large the research relied mainly on qualitative approach than quantitative ones to get broad views on a cross sectional of diverse communities in the district.Qualitative Approach is the collection of a variety of empirical materials, case study, personal experience, interviews, observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts that describe routine and problematic moments and meaning in individuals, it involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter50. Whereas Quantitative Approach is the use of sampling techniques whose findings may be expressed numerically, and are amenable to mathematical manipulation enabling the researcher to estimate future events or quantities.
To some extent, the researcher applied them all (triangulation of qualitative and quantitative approaches) to augment the weaknesses of the other in which primary and secondary research techniques were employed.
Primary data or Field Research:
Primary data is data observed or collected directly from firsthand experience or field51. This is the information which the researcher collected from selected relevant institutions, households and individuals. Field research provided reliable information on the subject area under investigation. Field work was conducted, results analyzed, interpreted and conclusions drawn. The primary data was gathered through the use of mainly key informant interviews (KII), focus group discussions and administration of questionnaires. Information obtained from research field was reliable since it was provided by people who are involved in the direct operations and it provided information which would have been omitted by the researcher. On the other hand, this technique proved to be time consuming to gather data and the researcher had to use a small sample size due to high costs of travelling to other areas like Chidhakwa, Duku and Munenovillages.
Sources of Data Collection
The researcher obtained and collected data mainly from the targeted institutions and people of Mrehwa District and other GMB Depots. These include the GMB Mrehwa Depot, GMB Head Office in Harare, GMB Gweru Depot Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Village Headman and village households who were GMB program beneficiaries.
Instruments used for primary data collection:
For the research project to be fruitful, the researcher applied the following data collection methods to obtain relevant information on the research project:
Key Informant Interviews
Focus Group Discussions
Questionnaires
Personal Observation
Key Informant Interviews (KII)
Key informant interviews were the main method used by the researcher to gather information on this topic because the key informants provided with first hand information on the effectiveness of GMB operations.CRS, GMB, Village Headman and village households were the key informant interviewees in this research. The researcher used semi-structured and unstructured key informant interviews in collecting the information. This involved key informant interviews with different categories of beneficiaries, relevant institutions personnel on their sentiment on the questions around the research problem. The researcher preferred to use mostly this technique/method over other techniques because of its flexibility, reliability and first-handiness to complement the weaknesses of other techniques that need someone to give clarity to those questions that the respondent or the researcher would have failed to understand52. Asking questions to the interviewee on a face to face basis enables the collection of first hand information, quick response and gave room to the researcher to probe for clarifications. It was so flexible that the researcher could modify his line of inquiry; it also enabled the researcher to read non-verbal cues of respondents thereby could investigate underlying motives hence obtaining a clear view of the respondent. KII are somehow limited to simple questions so as to ensure that they are easy to comprehend. Contrary , this technique was time consuming given the limited time the investigator had .
Focused Group Discussions (FGDs)
Focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to complement interviews. Focused Group Discussions were conducted with people in MrehwaDistrict from Chidhakwa and Dukuvillages in ward 10 to capture their perceptions concerning the effectiveness of the GMB in promoting food security in their area. The researcher had to seek consent from the local village headman to carry out the FGDs on the days they do their village weekly meetings. The researcher leaded the discussions, solicitation information through probing and triggering questions. It would at times take form of a structured discussion or unstructured discussion. The researcher would take notes and recording non verbal cues. This method of primary data collection was usually reliable because of its directness again, and biases were likely to be few because respondents tend to tell the truth when in a group. The researcher employed this method during his researches in the villages where he wanted to capture the broad views of people on how they were being assisted by GMB to promote food security Focus Group Discussions helped the researcher to obtain first hand information about food security within villages because the people who were interviewed were direct recipients of GMB services in Mrehwa.
However people did not frankly articulate their perceptions due to differences in political perceptions, fear of the leadership and others thought that the researcher was a spy and thought that giving negative perceptions about GMB would forfeit their benefits from GMB.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires are research instruments consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents.In this context, the researcher administered questionnaires to GMB officials both at the Head office in Harare and Mrehwa depot so as to get first hand information on the roles of GMB in promoting food security nationally and in Mrehwa district. Openended and close ended questions were administered during the research so as to collect as much precise information aspossible since there are some questions that people will answer much precisely when they are given time to do that while on their own and given ample time to do that since the answers were not required of them instantly as in other research methods such as the interviews.
The researcher prepared the questionnaires and gave them to the responsible people to provide the information after having asked them if they were comfortable with providing the information.
However questionnaires had a low response rates since some people had an anti-questionnaire phobia and more often than not the researcher was not available to provide clarity in those areas that needed to be clear to respondents.
Personal Observation
Over and above all, the researcher employed thepersonal observation method that enabled the researcher to obtain in-depth information about GMB operations in Mrehwa District. To complement this technique the researcher recorded the observed findings through taking notes for a detailed description, analysis and interpretation of facts like the GMB operations in Mrehwa District. When employing personal observation for research, the investigator spends many hours in the field, collects extensive data, and labours over field issues of trying to gain access, rapport, and an "insider" perspective, merits of this method includes the vivid evidence; one can know through analyzing and interpreting the views and attitudes of the concerned group, it observes things and issues in natural setting and it complements information gained from other techniques. However the researcher met some challenges like lack of clarifications from GMB officials at Mrehwa Depot as they were not accommodative.
Secondary data
It was gathered through reviewing published and unpublished articles, pamphlets, companyjournals, minutes to Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Dr Joseph Made from GMB, GMB National Crop Production and Intake Figures and textbooks, and the use of technology through the internet. The most important aspect considered was the provision of a good source of relevant and adequate information.
Instruments used for secondary data collection:
Internet based research
With technological advancements, the internet has proved to be a one-stop source of diverse and informative data. The internet provided a rich store of information. The researcher, through using the internet facility, found a variety of data related to the research topic on the internet and an added advantage was the fact that the most relevant websites were easily accessible and yielded results within a few minutes.
However, the internet as a source of information, fashioned some hurdles for the researcher. Firstly, the access to some relevant and up to date information proved to be challenging and almost impossible for the researcher as it required one to be a member of the publishing association or company. Secondly, for some there was need for payment online to get access to documents, which was beyond the capacity of the researcher. Thirdly, internet speed was slow in most instances because of congestion. As a result, additional time was spent on the internet than was actually necessary, at greater cost and inconvenience. Fourthly, because of the information overload on the Internet, some of the information obtained was irrelevant to the study which also has made the method expensive for the researcher.
Published and unpublished articles, journals and textbooks
A significant amount of information in the literature review of the project was extracted from published and unpublished articles, pamphlets, company journals, annual reports, minutes to minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development from GMB, GMB National Crop Production and Intake Figures, textbooks and the use of technology through the internet. These were utilized because of the associated advantages including simplicity and ease of understanding given the fact that they were presented in simple English.
More importantly, journals and textbooks provided valuable information on the research subject with reference to practical examples and previous scholarly arguments in significant instances. Journals and textbooks also proved to be a reliable source of information and gave room for comparison since there were numerous writers on the issue.
Undoubtedly, there were drawbacks associated with the use of these published and unpublished articles, journals, textbooks and online articles. The major issue of concern was that some of the data contained in these sources was of questionable authenticity because it did not originate from well known, reputable sources. Moreover, analysis of the documents was time consuming because some of the documents had much detail.
Population Sample
Population sample is a smaller group which is a true representation of a true characteristic of the population53 .It should be one tenth of the total population .The research has used systematic random sampling .The population mainly consisted of stakeholder institutions and people of Mrehwa District. Information was collected from GMB Mrehwa Depot, GMB Head Office in Harare, Catholic Relief Services, GMB Gweru Depot, village headman and village households from Chidhakwa, Duku and Muneno villagesin Mrehwa District ward 10.
Sampling Method
The researcher used systematic random sampling which is a probability type of sampling to gather information during the research .Data was collected on every tenth household after the first household has been chosen randomly so as to increase the probability of representing the views of every person in the village.The researcher first calculated the sampling interval that is the number of households in the villagedivided by the number of households needed for the sample in this case five households where needed per village. Sampling interval was selected per village. After calculating the sampling interval the researcher had to sample the household in the range of the interval. For instance in Duku village where there were 68 households: 68/5=14 and 14 was the sample interval. Thus the researcher had to make an interview on every 14th household from the initial household. Systematic sampling has got an advantage of having the probability of representing views of the whole population as it has no sampling biases. However the researcher found some challenges of counting the interval households due to the rural settlements which are not orderly built.
Data collection sample summary
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Justification of the sample
Given that there are 22 villages in Ward 10 in Mrehwa District it will not be possible for the researcher to sample all the villages hence the researcher only concentrated on three villages because the villages had had almost the same household ratio. Thus the results obtained from the three villages represent all 22 villages in Ward 10 in Mrehwa District.These villages were useful in identifying roles of GMB in ward 10 of Mrehwa District. The village were randomly selected on the basis that they were situated in the area of study hence would provide with relevant information about GMB.
Limitations of the Study
The researcher was affected by the bureaucratic nature of respondents’ especially involving GMB officials whereby too many procedures were to be taken before any information wasreleased.GMB information was highly regarded as private and confidential for state security hence the researcher had to take long procedures so as to be given the information. Even after the permission to carry out the research was granted, the Business Analysts at GMB Head Office who were tasked to assist the researcher were preoccupied by their main tasks such that they only entertained the researcher during their spare time that is break and lunch time only. Also the researcher was denied the permission to take some photos by Depot Manager at Mrehwa depot where the researcher wanted to photograph the dilapidated milling operations for documentation.
Financial constraints also affected the researchers’ quest to produce a well documented work afterfailing to contact all targeted respondents. Theresearcher failed to hold focused group discussions with Muneno village and this affected the research as the research could not manage to go back to hold a focused group discussion due to financial problems.
Some village people thought that the research was meant to identify food aid beneficiaries hence most people ended up expressing their plights rather than responding to the asked questions. Also due to political violence that once operated in the area, many people were afraid to truly articulate their perceptions as they thought that the researcher was a spy.
Ethical considerations
The researcher sought clearance from the Grain Marketing Board Head Office in Harare, which have the mandate of promoting national food security, to conduct the research. The researcher whose focus was on food security had to declare the research agenda, especially with the alignment towards highlighting that the research was strictly for academic purposes. Therefore clearance became very important as it enabled the research to be conducted with limited surveillance.
The researcher sought permission from community leaders and village members who were interviewed during data collection. These leaders are village heads, and this helped in conducting interviews and focus group discussions which, by virtue of gathering people, invited unwarranted attention on the part of community leaders. This meant that the aims of research were made known to these community leaders, who, in their own right, were very valuable in mobilizing people to cooperate and provide with relevant information. Also, participants were assured that the findings of the research will be used for academic purposes only.
Chapter Breakdown
This dissertation is divided into three chapters which are:
Chapter 1: Historical development of Grain Marketing Boards in Developing Countries.
Focusing on historical development of Grain Marketing Boardsin developing countriesand Zimbabwe in particular is the main thrust of this chapter.
Chapter 2: Roles played by Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011.
This chapter mainly focuses on stating and describing the role played by Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security inMrehwa District from 2001-2011.
Chapter 3: Impact assessment of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011.
Assessing the impact of Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in MrehwaDistrict will be the main thrust of the chapter. The researcher will analyse data collected from the field concerning the promotion of food security by GMB in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011.
End notes
1 African Institute for Agrarian Studies, The Monopoly Role of GMB in Food Security: Paper prepared for the Zimbabwe Trust Dialogue on Land and Resource Rights, 16 November 2006, p1
2 ibid, p1
3 ibid, p2
4 SMoyo, The land and Agrarian Question in Zimbabwe, Conference on “The Agrarian Constraint and Poverty Reduction”: Macroeconomic Lessons for Africa: Addis Ababa: 17-16 December 2004, p4
5 T S Jayne, A ChapotoGovereh, Successes and Challenges of Food Market Reform: Experiences from Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Michigan State University,1988, p5
6 T S Jayne MukumbuChisvo and D Soroko, Grain Marketing Policy at the Crossroads: Challenges for Eastern and Southern Africa, Paper prepared for the FAO workshop on Staple Food Trade and Marketing Policy Options for Promoting Development in Eastern and Southern Africa, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, March1-2, 2007,p9
7 Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Famine in Zimbabwe, Unpublished, April 2004, p6
8 A Sarris et al, Market and Trade Policy for Staple foods in Eastern and Southern Africa, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, UK, 2010, p3
9M Alamgir, Providing Food Security for All, New York University Press, New York, 1998,p2
10 http://www.irinnews.org/report:Zimbabwe,The Goal in 2010 is Food Security, p4, accessed 12 August 2010
11 Benedict Unendoro,Zimbabwe’s Grain Supplies Running Low,http//www.ens-newswire.com, p5, accessed 13 May 2011
12Newsday, 25 November 2011,Let market forces determine commodity prices, p2, accessed 17 January 2012
13Colin Stoneman and Carol Thompson, Banking on Hunger: Food Security in Zimbabwehttp//www.africafiles.org, p2, accessed 8 June 2010
14ibid, p2
15http://www.irinnews.org/report:Zimbabwe,The Goal in 2010 is Food Security, p4, accessed 12 August 2010
16 Colin Stoneman and Carol Thompson,Banking on Hunger: Food Security in Zimbabwehttp//www.africafiles.org, p2, accessed 8 June 2010
17ibid, p3
18 C.B Barrett et al, Marketing Boards,Cornell University, London, June 2005,p3
19 M.T Weber etal, Successes and Challenges of Food Market Reform: Experiences from Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Michigan State University, Michigan, 1998, p4
20 Ibid, p4
21Ibid, p7
22 T S Jayne, A ChapotoGovereh, Successes and Challenges of Food Market Reform: Experiences from Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Michigan State University, Michigan,1998, p5
23 African Institute for Agrarian Studies, The Monopoly Role of GMB in Food Security: Paper prepared for the Zimbabwe Trust Dialogue on Land and Resource Rights, 16 November 2006, p1
24C.B Barrett et al, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, London, June 2005,p2
25Ibid, p3
26Ibid, p5
27M.T Weber et al, Successes and Challenges of Food Market Reform: Experiences from Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Michigan State University, Michigan, 1998, p4
28Ibid, p6
29 Thomas Malthus,Food security, “Perfect Storm”: putting current debates about agricultural productivity and climate change into an historic context,http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/sri, p18,accessed 29 March 2012
30Ibid, p20
31Amartya Sen,Poverty-and-Famines-An-Essay-on-Entitlement-and-Deprivation http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-473162/,p 19,accessed 29March 2012
32Ibid, p23
33Ibid, p25
34Ibid, p34
35C Barrett and E Mutambatsere, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, London, 2005, p7
36Ibid, p15
37 http://www.fantaproject.org,Framework for use in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Food aid Programmes, by F Railey, 1999, p35, accessed 28 March 2012, p34
38Ibid, p36
39FAO,An introduction to the Basic Concepts of Food Security, http://www.foodsec.org/docs/concepts-guide, 2008, p2, accessed 28 March 2012
40Ibid, p3
41F Railey, Framework for use in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Food aid Programmes,http://www.fantaproject.org, 1999, accessed 28 March 2012, p35
42Ibid, p37
43Ibid, p45
44 Ibid, p4
45 ibid, p5
46M.T Weber et al, Successes and Challenges of Food Market Reform: Experiences from Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Michigan State University, Michigan, 1998, p8
47D Catherine , Practical Research Methods , UBSPublishers’ Distributors,New Delhi, 2002, p34
48Ibid, p35
49 Ibid, p36
50 Ibid, p38
51 Ibid, p40
52Ibid, p41
53 Ibid, p42
CHAPTER ONEH is torical developments of Grain Marketing Boards and the concept of food security in Developing Countries
This chapter looks into the historical development and the role of Grain Marketing Boards in developing countries and a comparison of GMB and other private grain traders in Zimbabwe.
Introduction
The development of marketing boards in Africa can be traced back to colonial times when colonial masters developed these marketing boards to facilitate the export of agricultural commodities from Africa to the international markets1. With the advent of independence many African governments perpetuated the functioning of these marketing boards to facilitate the marketing of African agricultural products to international markets and promote food security through maintaining national strategic reserves after food security had became topical during the World Food Summit of 19962.The chapter will also trace on the historical development of the concept of food security and giving a comparison of service provision between states controlled boards and private grain traders.
Historical development of GrainMarketing Boards in developing countries
Marketing boards in developing countries were typically begun during colonial times. European colonial powers formed marketing boards to facilitate the export of agricultural commodities to Europe and to stabilize prices faced by colonial elites (for food crops) and metropolitan buyers (for export crops) by making them to access international markets3. Post-independence governments generally maintained marketing boards because these were considered more efficient in conducting organized trade as they were used to market strategic agricultural commodities to international markets than the traditional, decentralized private sector. More compellingly, marketing boards provided a convenient way for the governments to maintain control over the marketing of strategic commodities, such as the food staples and important export crops. The marketing boards system was most prevalent in the Anglophone African and South Asian countries, but widespread as well in Francophone and Lusophone African countries and in Asia and Latin America4.
In tropical Africa agricultural marketing boards were formed due to the Great Depression and World War II5, when colonial governments found their principal sources of revenue severely reduced and both European and African populations financially distressed. Marketing boards are of British origin, but similar efforts were made in French and Belgian Africa6.
The rationale for intervention of marketing boards is multidimensional and some of the principal reasons have faded into the past or were never openly expressed7. The basis for governmental monopoly control of foreign trade had stood to be one of the prime reasons for the establishment of these state controlled boards. Exports of farm crops were in the hands of a very few European and American concerns8. Control of market behaviour and taxation of long-distance trade were also well-established perquisites of traditional authorities long before European occupation. The first marketing boards in Africa were authorised partly in response to widespread belief that they would raise prices, farm incomes, and export proceeds. British West Africa did, in fact, supply the lion's share of world cocoa shipments, while Nigeria and the Belgian Congo produced most of the marketed palm oil9. It was also believed that governmental control would reduce marketing costs to the benefit of producers in the sense that producers will not incur transportation costs to international markets, rather they would sell their products to marketing boards and these same boards will market these agricultural products at the international markets10.
The countries of Eastern and Southern Africa did not enjoy advantages in world markets in the 1940s, but their relatively large numbers of European settlers felt they had strong claims to government support and protection from African farmers11. They were also in a strategic position to provide foodstuffs to British territories in Asia during World War II12. By the late 1940s, with marketing boards in place and demand of agricultural produces rising rapidly, with memories of events after World War I, concern was felt about the price collapse that was thought sure to come as happened during the WW1. The upshot was that marketing boards held back part of their proceeds from farmers to establish 'stabilisation funds' that could be used to cushion the fall of their prices later in Africa. The implication was that board officers would get financial resources better than farmers. Customs revenues, principally export duties, had long been a major source of government income, and their decline was an important reason why marketing controls were imposed13.Marketing boards had to do with export crops and very little with domestic supplies. It was recognised early, however, that reserves of staple foods in the hands of public authorities could be of great value in time of crop failure, a fairly common occurrence on the grasslands below the Sahara, as well as east and south of the Congo forest14. Difficulties of transport provoked campaigns for district, even village, self-sufficiency in various territories, including the construction of communal provident societies in droughty areas of British East and Central Africa and French West Africa15. These efforts were not very successful in their primary purpose, and they impeded the development of internal food-marketing systems, a matter of critical importance as more stable rural settlements, specialisation in production, and urban provision imposed increasing burdens on domestic food-distribution systems. To build and maintain famine reserves that could be deployed where needed was a task for food-crop marketing boards.
The first crop-marketing board in tropical Africa was established in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) in I93I in response to pressure from European farmers for support of the export price of maize. It constituted a cartel-like pool to which all European farmers and all producers of maize for export were required to sell16. The first such organisation in Kenya, the Coffee Board, was founded in I933, made up primarily of European planters but also with official representation. By 1945 there were seven others, including one for cereals, pulses, and oilseeds17. At independence, all of the British East and Central African countries had marketing boards for maize and various other commodities, except Tanzania. The West African Control Board, established by Britain as a wartime measure in I942, was the origin of marketing boards in that part of the continent. Eight boards created during I947-9 controlled the export marketing of cocoa, groundnuts, oil-palm products, and cotton in Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Ghana, and Nigeria, and these were 'by far the largest statutory export monopolies in the British colonial empire' in I954, with financial resources exceeding those of the West African governments18. In this way marketing boards were more like the American farm price-support agency, the Commodity Credit Corporation that serves as 'a buyer of last resort' and holds stocks for later disposition19.
However in post-independence Africa, governments generally maintained marketing boards because these were considered more efficient in conducting organized trade than the traditional, decentralized private sector marketing as they provided a convenient way for the governments to maintain control over the marketing of strategic commodities, such as the food staples and important export crops20.
Marketing boards were both state-owned and state-funded. They possessed the sole legal authority to purchase commodities from farmers and to engage in trade. Through the boards, governments typically fixed official producer prices for all controlled commodities, often in a pan-seasonal and pan-territorial manner whereby a single price was set for the whole marketing season and for all regions of the country21. Marketing boards provided a guaranteed market for the farmers, absorbing all marketed surplus at the official producer prices, and maintaining extensive buying networks and storage facilities throughout the production regions22. Pan-seasonal and pan-territorial pricing practices eliminated any opportunities for arbitrage, discouraging private investment in commodity storage or transport capacity, and reinforcing the government’s control over the marketing channel.
Unlike marketing boards in developed countries, producer sales into the network were rarely rationed, because the marketing boards’ objective was normally to increase supply and lower prices for consumers, as opposed to controlling supply for the benefit of producers23.
The marketing boards held the sole legal rights in commodity export, and had a mandate to generate income for the state. Marketing boards were used as a means to tax agriculture in order to develop the industrial sector in these agrarian economies24. Marketing boards could trade on an open market for the highest possible selling prices. However, because most of the former European colonies enjoyed preferential access to European markets under the Lomé Convention of 1975, most commodities were sold to Europe25. In addition, some export crops enjoyed commodity price stabilization through international commodity agreements such as the International Coffee Agreement. In those cases where a country enjoys world market power, a state marketing board can, at least in theory, increase prices and thereby extract consumer surplus from foreign buyers to benefit the exporting country, including its producers26.
Even though the export crop marketing boards were generally established first, in most developing countries staple food commodity marketing boards became at least as significant as part of the parastatal system27. For food commodities, government control extended to every stage of the market chain, to include farm gate, wholesale and retail price controls. In-country commodity movement was restricted; especially the movement of strategic food commodities, and private trade was either illegal or legal only by licence28.To achieve food security objectives, food subsidies were generally offered, mostly implicitly, in the form of fixed consumer prices set at levels lower than the market price. Although farm prices were generally set at a below-market level as well, the government often offered implicit subsidies to farmers, through price stabilization operations, and input and credit subsidies administered through the marketing boards for instance in Zambia the National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBOARD) was responsible for fertilizer distribution and these arrangements stimulated greater crop production hence promoting food security29.
Grain marketing boards also handled the strategic food reserves for emergency situations, and had the responsibility to import food in shortage seasons. In Zambia, for example, the government-owned Food Reserve Agency (FRA) that replaced the National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBOARD) in 1995, charged with maintaining the strategic grain reserve and acting as a buyer of last resort for smallholder farmers, in time took up prior NAMBOARD responsibilities such as fertilizer distribution. In Indonesia for example, even though the market was opened to private traders, National Logistics Supply Organization remained a price leader by operating a major buffer stock, purchasing rice when rice prices fell below a stated floor price and releasing stocks when prices rose above a price ceiling30. Similarly, in the Kenyan maize sector the NCPB continued to intervene directly in markets to support maize prices; and in Malawi ADMARC remains the dominant maize buyer and distributor of inputs. Although processing was not their core business, marketing boards, in some cases, were also involved in preliminary processing, such as milling rice or maize, or in licensing and monitoring the processing industry activities.
New economic insights, in the context of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, triggered widespread agricultural market reforms in the 1980s and 1990s throughout the developing world31. Agricultural marketing reforms generally aimed to reduce the role of the public sector in marketing and to encourage private sector participation so as to let markets allocate scarce goods more efficiently. Marketing boards experienced major reforms under these programmes, comprising the elimination of price controls, termination of farm input and consumer food subsidies, removal of marketing boards’ monopoly power and deregulation of private trade. In many cases, marketing boards were privatized or at least commercialized, the latter referring to cases where marketing boards remained government owned, but with autonomous decision-making power and an explicit objective to maximize profits.
In spite of widespread liberalization, marketing operations for most ‘strategic’ food and export crops changed little. Newly privatized or commercialized marketing boards were often replaced with ‘new’ marketing boards that were initially intended to provide public goods, but eventually and predictably became involved in crop marketing. In Zambia, for example, the government-owned Food Reserve Agency (FRA) that replaced the National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBOARD) in 1995, charged with maintaining the strategic grain reserve and acting as a buyer of last resort for smallholder farmers, in time took up prior NAMBOARD responsibilities such as fertilizer distribution32.
Moreover, some of the commercialized marketing boards did not significantly change their pricing systems and continued to use the power of the state to remain dominant players in the current market system. In the Kenyan maize sector the National Cereal Production Board (NCPB) continued to intervene directly in markets to support maize prices; and in Malawi ADMARC remains the dominant maize buyer and distributor of inputs33.
Grain Marketing Board in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, the Grain Marketing Board was established under the Maize Control Act of 1931 as the Maize Control Board in response to the 1930 World Recession to address food insecurity challenges and renamed the Grain Marketing Board in 1951 when other crops, like rice and wheat, were added to its mandate34. The mission of GMB is to ensure food security in Zimbabwe through the marketing of grain related agricultural products with particular reference to staple food products, namely maize and wheat. The GMB is, as its name implies, an institution whose main function, is the orderly marketing of agricultural products, mainly grains, oil seeds, edible beans and coffee within Zimbabwe, maintain strategic Grain Reserves, implement the Input Supply Credit Scheme to stimulate agriculture, provision of agricultural grain handling, storage and processing facilities and dealing with market failures, buyer of last resort35. The GMB buys a variety of crops from farmers and sells them into the domestic agro-processing industry in addition to exporting these products to regional and international markets when in excess and imports these products from both regional and international markets, when in short supply, so as to promote food security at both national and household level.
GMB operates eighty four depots across the country, twelve of which are silo depots located in the high grain producing areas across the country.
A comparison of GMB and other private grain traders in grain marketing
With the adoption of Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) by Zimbabwean Government in 1991 saw the removal of agricultural subsidies and food commodity subsidies36. It also saw the removal of GMB monopoly in the marketing of grain crops and made other private grain traders to compete in grain trading for instance Zimbabwe Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ZIMACE).ZIMACE traded in most crops with the exception of tobacco and horticultural crops.
According to Friedrich Ebert Stiftung GMB used to operate a centralised cheque processing system to pay farmers and this takes a month37. The cheque will require another two weeks to mature in a bank and many smallholder farmers and many smallholders farmers do not have bank accounts and farmers ended up cashing the cheques in local shops where they were asked to buy goods worth upwards of 25% the value of the cheque. This saw farmers operating below production costs when the national economy was experiencing hyperinflation as farmers were not able to buy other agricultural inputs for the next farming season and this subsequently limited the tonnage of grains delivered to GMB for the national reserves hence affecting food security38. This was contrary with ZIMACE which offered prompt payments which made farmers to purchase other agricultural products for the following season before their money was devalued by hyperinflation. Many smallholder farmers resorted to trade their grains at ZIMACE where they were getting better payment facilities.
GMB, unlike ZIMACE, announced producer prices on a pan-seasonal basis and the prices offered were not very unattractive. Pan-seasonal grain pricing affected farmers in times of hyperinflation as producers ended up receiving insignificant amounts long after delivering their commodities39. However farmers were guaranteed of markets and prices were not subject to fluctuation in times of gluts.ZIMACE prices were market based that is supply and demand determined commodity prices. This therefore means that in times of bumper harvest producers will fetch little from the market because demand will be low whereas in times of grain shortages producers will fetch much from the market due to less supply. Hence such a situation left farers with no security due to uncertainty in price allocations. The marketing year of 1996/97, for instance, ZIMACE was trading on higher prices than GMB except in the month of June 1996 when maize was traded at $Z 1 063 per tonne lower than the GMB price of $Z 1 200 per tonne. The main reason for lower prices in June 1996 was that the market was still saturated with the commodity as most producers were selling the commodity. Other products like rapoko,wheat and sorghum tended to fetch better prices than those of GMB , for instance during the 1996 marketing season,GMB bought a tonne of wheat at Z$ 2 550 and “mhunga” at Z$ 620 per tonne while ZIMACE bought at Z$ 7 058 per tonne and Z$3 529 per tonne respectively40.
The GMB grading and weighing systems, unlike ZIMACE, were unfavourable to smallholder farmers. The GMB just takes a sample from the truckload and award the same grade to the whole consignment. The smallholder farmers also felt cheated on weights for example the GMB accepts anything within the 89 kg -93 kg range for maize grain. If a bag’s weight falls below the range, the farmer is penalised and if the bag weighs above, the farmer loses since GMB does not pay for the extra weight. Therefore the unfairness of GMB marketing system made most smallholder farmers to resort selling their produce to private traders and this subsequently affected the maintenance of national strategic grain reserve and exposing the country to food insecurity.
Conclusion
In conclusion the development of marketing boards dates back to the colonial times when they were formed by colonial governments to market and maintain a monopoly control of foreign trade and maintain a steady supply of food to European soldiers during the World War 11.Post independence African governments maintained the idea of marketing boards so as to promote food security in their countries through establishment of strategic grain reserves as many marketing boards were given the monopoly role of importing food grains in times of need to promote food security.
Endnotes
1 W.O Jones, Food Crop Marketing Boards in Africa, Journal of Modern African Studies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987, p1
2 Ibid, p2
3 Ibid, p2
4 T S Jayne,Maize Market Reform in Kenya, Michigan State University, Michigan, 1997, p2
5Ibid, p3
6 C B Barrett and E Mutambatsere, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, London, 2005, p3
7 Ibid, p3
8 W.O Jones, Food Crop Marketing Boards in Africa, Journal of Modern African Studies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987, p4
9 Ibid, p6
10 A Sarris et al, Market and Trade Policy for Staple foods in Eastern and Southern Africa, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, UK, 2010, p3
11 T S Jayne Mukumbu, M Chisvo and D Soroko, Grain Marketing Policy at the Crossroads: Challenges for Eastern and Southern Africa, Paper prepared for the FAO workshop on Staple Food Trade and Marketing Policy Options for Promoting Development in Eastern and Southern Africa, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, March1-2, 2007,p8
12 C B Barrett and E Mutambatsere, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, London, 2005, p3
13Ibid, p5
14 P Andersen, Food Security: Definition and Measurement, Cornell University, London, 2009, p6
15 T Takavarasha, The Role of Private Sector in Addressing Food Emergencies and Vulnerabilities in Southern Africa, University of Pretoria,Pretoria,2006,p4
16 Ibid, p5
17 W.O Jones, Food Crop Marketing Boards in Africa, Journal of Modern African Studies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987, p6
18 Ibid, p7
19 P Andersen, Food Security: Definition and Measurement, Cornell University, London, 2009, p6
20 Ibid, p7
21 Ibid, p8
22 T Takavarasha, The Role of Private Sector in Addressing Food Emergencies and Vulnerabilities in Southern Africa,University of Pretoria,Pretoria,2006,p6
23 Ibid, p7
24 P Andersen, Food Security: Definition and Measurement, Cornell University, London, 2009, p7
25 C B Barrett and E Mutambatsere, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, London, 2005, p4
26 Ibid, p5
27 T S Jayne Mukumbu, M Chisvo and D Soroko, Grain Marketing Policy at the Crossroads: Challenges for Eastern and Southern Africa, Paper prepared for the FAO workshop on Staple Food Trade and Marketing Policy Options for Promoting Development in Eastern and Southern Africa, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, March1-2, 2007,p9
28 Ibid, p11
29 W.O Jones, Food Crop Marketing Boards in Africa, Journal of Modern African Studies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987, p6
30 Ibid, p7
31 Ibid, p9
32 C B Barrett and E Mutambatsere, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, London, 2005, p5
33Ibid, p7
34 Ibid, p11
35 Ibid, p18
36 P Masanganise, Marketing Agricultural Commodities through the Zimbabwe Agricultural Commodity Exchange, FES Library, Harare, 1997, p 2
37Ibid, p5
38Ibid, p7
39 C B Barrett and E Mutambatsere, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, London, 2005, p7
40Ibid, p9
CHAPTER TWORoles played by Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011
The chapter looks at the roles played by Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011.
Introduction
The Grain Marketing Board, through government assistance, has played a pivotal role in promoting national food security in Zimbabwe. Grain Marketing Board roles include establishment and maintenance of the national strategic grain reserve, offering farmer support services through inputs distribution servicesand specialist services, providestorage, handling and processing facilities for controlled products, orderly marketing of controlled products within any prescribed area, promotion of contract farming, offering milling facilities and bakeries as prescribed in Part IV of the Grain Marketing,Chapter 18:141.The roles of GMB are aims at increasing food production and to ensure national food security through the provision of grain related agricultural products sustainably.GMBMrehwa as a subdivision of the main projecthave replicated the roles of other GMB Depots nationwide and these include grain storage and handling facilities to maintain District Strategic Grain Reserves, provide inputs distribution programmes, marketing of controlled products, food processing operations, fumigation and pest control services and grain distribution to needy families which facilitates the promotion of food security.
Roles of GMB in Mrehwa district from 2001-2011
Grain marketing, handling and storage
GMB Mrehwa depot plays a central role in providing grain handling and storage facilities in Mrehwa District to promote food security. Mrehwa GMB Depot has the sole duty of maintaining the Strategic Grain Reserve so as to promote district food security.The District Strategic Grain Reserve which is supposed to hold 60 000 tonnes at any given time to act as a buffer in times of drought hence acting as insurance against food insecurity as grains will be readily available in times of shortages. According to Mr Zanza, Mrehwa Depot Manager in an interview with the researcher, Mrehwa Depot silos have a carrying capacity of 60 000 metric tonnes, which implies that when the silos are filled with grains they will contribute with 12 % to the National Grain Reserve, and the grains stored in the silos insure the people in Mrehwa district against food insecurity in times of scarcity2. However Mr Zanza highlighted that District Strategic Grain Reserve is not achievable over a single season rather it is spread over years for it to be achieved3. In times of bad harvests the GMB Mrehwa Depot has the mandate to handle and store maize imports and other controlled products from other countries like Zambia, South Africa and Mozambique, to mention but a few, to meet the local demand and maintain District Strategic Grain Reserve so as to promote food security in Mrehwa District4.Thus GMB Mrehwa Depot act as a subdivision that provide subservices to the national GMB services which aims at promoting national food security.
Grain handling and storage facilities at Mrehwa depot contribute to both district and national food security since the people within Mrehwa district obtain grains from Mrehwa depot in times of need and also Mrehwa depot contribute to the national cumulative tonnage of 500 000 metric tonnes required to secure the nation against food insecurity. Fumigants are also applied for proper handling and storage as fumigation controls pests which can destroy stored grains for instance maize grain willows hence properly handled grains can be used to feed the population in the district in times of need5.GMB uses contact insecticides used for disinfectants which include Actellic Super and Cooperfos which are used to control pests6.
GMB Mrehwa depot buys maize, wheat, sunflower, beans and sorghum among others from farmers in the district for storage and exports to obtain foreign currency7. Farmers who sell their produce to GMB will be paid either in cash or they will be provided with agricultural inputs to use in the forthcoming agricultural season8. This helps to boosts agricultural production as farmers will continue farming due to availability of agricultural inputs and this also promote the maintenance of strategic grain reserve for the district.GMBMrehwa depot silos does not only handle produce from farmers but also those imported from beyond awaiting to be distributed to people in the district in times of shortages9. Thus handling and storage facilities promote food availability to the district hence promoting food security.
Grain Distribution to Needy Families
As way of promoting food security in Mrehwa district, GMB Mrehwa has also embarked on grain distribution to needy families in the district. Grain distribution has been categorised into that is the vulnerable group which consist of old aged people who are economically inactive and orphans and vulnerable children who are entitled to get assistance under the government initiated programmes for free. The second group being beneficiaries of GMB subsidised grains which is open to everyone10.GMB has also introduced grain loan scheme whereby people will apply to be given grains on credit and they will be required to pay it back and this helps to ease starvation and malnutrition to children hence promoting food security for instance during the 2001/2002 and 2007/2008 drought GMB sold subsidised maize and provided with food aid to the old aged and orphans for free in Mrehwa District11. People will be required to pay back after they have harvested their crops. In an interview with the researcher Mr Zanza, GMB Mrehwa Depot Manager, revealed that grain loan scheme was implemented after it was discovered that some famine hit households could not afford to buy GMB subsidised maize which cost $16 for a 50 kilogram bag12. Also transport cost had an effect to households as they could not afford to pay for the transport from the depot to their destinations hence these people remained vulnerable to food insecurity. Therefore GMB grain distribution program under subsidised grain or grain loan scheme are requisite measures employed by GMB to deal with food insecurity problem in Mrehwa District.
Inputs Distribution Programme
Having noted that farmers were struggling to get money to buy the inputs, the government through GMB introduced a credit scheme to the farmers in Mrehwa Distrct13. The farmers were selected through Agriculture extension services (Agritex) with the assistance of the village headman, which then approaches GMBMrehwa Depot and the farmers will be given stop order forms to fill in. Farmers will then pay up the credit at the end of the season when farmers deliver their crops to GMB and deductions are done against stop order form information.
Farmers will be given agricultural inputs which include seed, fertilisers, pesticides and tillage facilities so as to boost agricultural production and promote food availability hence promoting food security. The inputs will be given to both communal and commercial farmers in the District to boost productivity and promote both national and household food security through improved grain deliveries to the District Depot. During 2010/2011 agricultural season the government of Zimbabwe availed thirty million United States dollars (US$30) and it was divided into two categories which are the vulnerable groups, those who are old aged and widows, received US$ 8million and second category being the communal, small scale,A1 and old resettlement farmers received a share of US$22 million and this intervention aims at boosting national agricultural production so as to promote food security14.During the 2009/2010 summer inputs scheme the GMB depots received a total of 15 304 tonnes of Compound D, 4 148 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate, 2 441 tonnes of maize seed, 342 tonnes of Sorghum Seed and 2 990 tonnes of Urea under the US$210 million 2009/10 Government Summer Inputs Scheme15.
A total of 12 042 tonnes maize seed, 19 142 tonnes Compound D fertilizer, 7 042 tonnes Compound C fertilizer and 4 287 Ammonium Nitrate have been received from the local suppliers under the US$50 million Government Inputs Facility and a total of 40 800 tonnes of Urea fertilizer, 1 940 tonnes of Compound D under the US$ 40 million Government Inputs Facility16.Thus GMB Mrehwa Depot provide subservices to the National GMB services as this has been proved by GMB inputs distribution at District level from the consignments received from National Inputs Distribution Scheme with the aim of promoting District food security.
Table 1: Inputs Disbursements Position: National Summer Inputs Government Scheme 2009/2010
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten Source: GMB Headquarters Minutes to Dr Joseph Made: Minister of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development, 1 April 2010
In Mrehwa District,Grain Marketing Board has the mandate to distribute inputs under inputs distribution programme. The beneficiaries were selected, vetted and approved by Agricultural extension services (Agritex) and Ward Agricultural committee who upon approval the farmers were issued with a voucher17. List of beneficiaries were produced by the Agritex and delivered to GMB by an Agritex official who date stamped and signed the list, listing all the vouchers issued.
Input Collection was done at GMB Mrehwa Depot in Mrehwa districts and farmers were divided in to various categories which include the vulnerable group and subsidised inputs group. Farmers under vulnerable group access their inputs for free upon presentation of vouchers on collection and they appeared on the Agritexlist. Collection of inputs was against vouchers only from selected beneficiaries who, upon presentation of vouchers on selection, paid a subsidized amount of $15 per bag of fertilizers to be collected and seed were sold at 50 cents per kg of maize seed and 30 cents per kg of Sorghum seed18.During 2010/2011 agricultural season, each beneficiaryhousehold received a single bag of Compound D fertiliser, one bag of ammonium nitrate, 10 kg of maize seed and 5 kg of sorghum seed19.
The GMB had the mandate of collecting all vouchers under the input distribution scheme before the beneficiary collect the product and all farmers had to collect their allocations in person and their names, identifications numbers clearly listed and no inputs are allowed to be recorded ward or farmers group names20. This measure played a pivotal role in avoiding corruption and ensured that the produce reached the right beneficiary.
Food processing operations
In 1996 the Grain Marketing Board embarked on income generating projects to sustain its operations nationwide. It started its diversification and commercialisation strategy with a milling project which saw the emergency of silo “upfu”, silo roller meal and silo refined meal on the market21. Milling operations at Mrehwa GMB Depot promoted food availability on the market in times of food shortages and promoted accessibility as the GMB prices werecompetitive on the market with those of Blue Ribbon, National Foods and Victoria Foods companies hence competition prevented the unnecessary skyrocketing of prices22.GMB products were sold at prices which could be accessed by all people within the society hence creating means in the quest to promote food security.GMB also produced mealie meal for export to other countries for instance Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Zambia and Botswana and exports brought foreign currency, an entitlement that can be used to import food in times of need23. In 2001 GMB Mrehwa District engaged itself in packaging facilities and it packed silo range of products including silo salt, silo “nyimo”, silo “nyemba”, silo samp, silo popcorn and also processed chewy MunchyMaputi24. In 2006 GMB Mrehwa Depot had other range of products not part of silo added to its portfolio and this included Pagoda rice which was a premium brand for Vietnamese rice25. However milling operations, at Mrehwa Depot, have ceased to operate in the marketing season of April 2010 due to the dilapidation of the milling machinery which was no longer serviced due to financial constraints.
Food packaging increased value addition to GMB and at the same time created employment which ultimately increased people’s entitlements which they used to buy food in times of need. According to statistics obtained from GMB Head OfficeAspindale depot in Harare produced 2925 tonnes of mealie meal during 2010/2011 marketing year and it recorded the highest figure among other depots and was seconded by Gweru depot that reached 350 tonnes of mealie meal production nationwide26.
Unlike in Mrehwa District, other GMB Depots also ventured into baking operations as a way of increasing its value addition. Silo bread and buns are baked using wheat locally obtained from farmers. Four bakeries were established nationwide in Gweru, Marondera, Masvingo and Bindura27.However Gweru bakery is currently the only operational bakery for GMB.According to the statistics for the March 2011 marketing season Gweru was the only bakery that was on the lead of bread production and Bindura bakery recorded no production at all hence this implies that there will be disruptions in income generation to sustain GMB operations28.Thus food processing helped to add value addition to GMB and also created employment to increase people’s entitlements together with promoting food availability hence promoting food security.
Contract Farming
The GMB implement Contract Farming project in Mrehwa District which focuses on those crop commodities that are not controlled under the Grain Act28. A controlled product is an agricultural product declared by the Minister of Agriculture as controlled in terms of the Grain Marketing Act Chapter 18:14 of 1991 and these include maize and wheat29. Those not controlled are soya beans, sugar beans, sunflower, ground nuts, popcorn and small grains like sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet to mention but a few.
Through contract farming GMBhas taken an initiative to support the production of drought tolerant small grains in Mrehwa District which receives little rains which hinders maize production30. Farmers are also supported in the form of seed, fertilizers and chemicals to boost agricultural production which promote food availability and ultimately will lead to food security. It is the responsibility of the GMB to plan, budget, procure and distribute inputs, monitor the project as well as ensuring recovery of the distributed inputs so as not to operate on loss.
The main objectives of the contract farming scheme include increasing the production of small grains andoil seeds in Mrehwa District31. These grains include sun flower, soya beans, sugar beans, sorghum and” rapoko” which are drought resistant and they can mature even with little rainfall hence they can act as insurance to District food insecurity.
Contract farming also aimed at supporting the Agrarian Reform Program through provision of agricultural inputs in Mrehwa District32. Provision of agricultural inputs to farmers was an initiative to boost agricultural production from subsistence production to commercial production and this initiative was also pivotal in maintaining District Strategic Grain Reserve which stand as insurance against food insecurity.
Ensuring continued intake of non-controlled crop commodities into GMB Mrehwa Depot was another objective of contract farming33. Non controlled products include popcorn, soya beans, sugar beans and sorghum to mention but a few34. These uncontrolled products increased profitability and value addition to GMB operations through selling these products and manufacturing of finished products like stock feeds using locally produced raw materials at low cost hence exploiting its comparative advantage.
Facilitating production of exportable crops that generates foreign currency helps to increase the national entitlements and facilitate food security also stood to be another objective of contract farming35. These crops include sunflower, sugar beans and soya beans to mention but a few that can be exported to other countries for oil production and human consumption. These crops generate income to import maize in times of shortages and can as well be exchanged for maize hence promoting food availability which ultimately leads to food security.
Marketing of agricultural products
GMB Mrehwa Depot is also playing a pivotal role in marketing of both controlled and non controlled agricultural products, provision of business information as well as handling customer complaints36.GMB provide a ready market for farmers in Mrehwa District and this facilitates promotion of food security as farmers would be able to sell their products and prepare for the forthcoming agricultural season on time. Farmers can be given farming inputs instead of cash an initiative that promote agriculture which can ultimately facilitate food security.GMBMrehwaDepot traded in both primary commodities like maize, sunflower, wheat, beans and sorghum, to mention but a few, and processed commodities silo salt, silo samp, silo rice and silo “upfu” among others and this generates income for GMB Mrehwa Depot to sustain its operations.
Fumigation and pest control services
The Grain Marketing Board offers client fumigation as a commercialservice38. The main area of use of fumigation lies in the control of insects, their eggs, larvae and pupae in the stored produce. As the fumigants are highly toxic to mammals, treatment also has a useful side effect on rodents.GMB also carry out disinfestations in warehouses, storerooms, among others. Two contact insecticides used for disinfectants are Actellic Super and Cooperfos which are used to control pests like grain willows39.
Pest control services controls agricultural products from pests both in the field and in their reserves40. Control of pests like locusts and eelworms promote the crops to develop to their full potential hence will not affect the maximum possible yields. It is trivial to control pests like rodents and maize stalk borer to agricultural products during storage as this helps to preserve the quality of the products which makes them to last long hence making it possible to maintain the District Grain Reserve which promote food security.
Conclusion
GMB has employed various interventions to promote food security in Mrehwa District and the interventions were mostly aiming at creating the District Strategic Grain Reserve which insures the District against food insecurity. However some roles of GMB Mrehwa District have since ceased to be carried out due to a plethora of challenges which include economic, political and climatic challenges among others.
Endnotes
1http://www.law.co.zw/index.php/agriculture/doc_download/1458-grain-marketing-act.html: Grain Marketing Act: Chapter 18:14 Part IV, Functions, Duties and Powers of GMB, 1991, p7, accessed 7 February 2012
2Interview with Mr ZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
3Interview with Mr Chiguvari GMB Gweru Depot Manager, interviewed 7 February 2012
4 Interview with MrZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manger, interviewed 19 March 2012
5Ibid, 19 March 2012
6 GMB Head Office Minutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p6, 31 March 2011
7Interview with Mr ZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
8GMB Head OfficeMinutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p7, 1 April 2010
9Ibid, p7
10 http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Farmer Support Services, p4, accessed 9 February 2012
11Ibid, p4
12 Interview with Mr ZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
13 GMB Head Office Minutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and IrrigationDevelopment, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p6, 31 March 2011
14Interview with Mr ZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
15GMB Head OfficeMinutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p7, 1 April 2010
16Ibid, 1 April 2010
17 http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Farmer Support Services, p4, accessed 9 February 2012
18Ibid, p3
19Interview with Mr ZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
20 GMB Head Office Minutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and IrrigationDevelopment, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p6, 31 March 2011
21V Bhonyongwa, ZIMTRADE, Processed Foods, Unpublished, January 2011, p1
22http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Unlocking the InvestmentPotential in the GMBStockfeedsManufacturingStrategic Business Unit, June 2011, p2, accessed 13February 2012
23V Bhonyongwa, ZIMTRADE, Processed Foods, Unpublished, January 2011, p1
24http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Farmer Support Services, p4, accessed 9 February 2012
25Newsday 25 November 2011, Let market forces determine commodity prices, p3, accessed 23 March 2012
26 GMB Head OfficeMinutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p7, 1 April 2010
27Ibid, 1 April 2010
28Interview with Mr ZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
29GMB Head OfficeMinutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p7, 1 April 2010
30Ibid, 1 April 2010
31 http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Farmer Support Services, p4, accessed 9 February 2012
32Ibid, p4
33Ibid, p6
34Interview with Mr ZanzaMrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
35V Bhonyongwa, ZIMTRADE, Processed Foods, Unpublished, January 2011, p1
36Newsday 25 November 2011, Let market forces determine commodity prices, p3, accessed 23 March 2012
37GMB Head OfficeMinutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, p7, 1 April 2010
38 http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Farmer Support Services, p4, accessed 9 February 2012
39Ibid, p4
40Ibid, p5
CHAPTER THREE
Impact assessment of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District
This chapter will look into the successes and challenges faced by GMB in trying to promote food security in Mrehwa District. In this chapter, the researcher will analyses data collected concerning the promotion of food security by GMB in Mrehwa District.
Success made by GMB in the promoting food security in Mrehwa District
The promotion of food security in Mrehwa District is facing more challenges than success, except in some few notable areas where GMB, through government assistance,have managed to bring some changes.
According to research findings from interviews carried out by the research with village members who were randomly sampled have rated agricultural inputs distribution program as good and helpful to communal farmers in Mrehwa District as these programmes has helped the beneficiaries to boost their agricultural produce and promoted household food security. Inputs were distributed after it was discovered that farmers were struggling to get money to buy the inputs and the government through GMB introduced a credit scheme to the farmers whereby inputs were sold at a subsidised price and also given on loan basis. According to Joyce Nhema from Dukuvillage, during the interview with the researcher, input credit scheme was helpful to the community people as repayment rate is cheap as GMB would recover the costs of the inputs by deducting from the produce delivered by the farmer to GMB1. Also inputs were sold at a subsidised price, which is two bags of fertilizer of compound D and top dressing and a ten kilogram maize seed costs US$35, and this made many communal farmers people to be able to accessthe inputs for farming hence facilitating food security.
Fig 1 shows GMB ratings by village people during the interviews.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Key: Good-42%, Bad-33%, Not Sure-25%
The pie chart shows GMB ratings by the local people through focus group discussions. According to the pie chart 42% of the population rated the services good, 33% rated the services as bad and 25% were not sure of the services. Hence it can be deduced that GMB services were helpful to the people as indicated by field results.
However the researcher has observed that GMB’s input distribution scheme has been criticized for late and inadequate delivery of inputs to farmers.The GMB Inputs Distribution Scheme was widely criticized by farmers for not supplying inputs on time and this had a negative impact on crop production as this forced farmers to plant without basal fertilizer, with resulting poor root growth and susceptibility to drought. Thus GMB efforts in trying to promote food security havebeen hindered by many challenges which compromised the attainment of food security.
Provision of storage facilities and a ready market to local farmers has been another success by GMB Mrehwa Depot. Grain storage has been successful because of the availability of grain silos with a carrying capacity of 60 000 metric tonnes and these storage facilities has facilitated grain availability in times of shortage hence insuring the District against food insecurity. During the 2002 drought year, GMB managed to sell yellow maize from imports, at a subsided price so that all classes of the society would have access to the maize hence promoting food availability and accessibility in the District. Thus the researcher have realised that provision of ready market has refrained farmers to look for new markets seasonally hence the guaranteed market by GMB has also facilitated the maintenance of grain reserves which act as an insurance against food insecurity. During the research it has been also discovered that grain storage has been affected by 2007/2008 hyperinflationary condition in the country which hindered farmers to sell their produce to GMB due to low returns and low government funding which failed to facilitate reserve restocking by importing from other countries. Also despite the provision of a ready market GMB delayed payment services to the farmers and used to issue cheques which required some days to mature2. With such a condition together with hyperinflation environment that was prevailing in Zimbabwe from early 2001 to 2008,the researcher has discovered that farmers were operating below production costs as they received their money already inflated and the commodity prices were fixed by GMB and this affected the maintenance of District strategic reserves hence exposing the District to food insecurity.Mr Zanza, Mrehwa Depot Manger postulated that District strategic grain reserve cannot be attained over a single season and it has never been attained since 2004 due to a plethora of social, economic and political reasons3. Therefore, according to research findings, the lack of GMBself financial reliance has contributed to inconveniencies in trying to promote food security in MrehwaDistrict and rendered GMB ineffective in promoting food security.
Grain provision to vulnerable households which include famine hit households, orphans, widows and old aged has promoted food accessibility and availability to the needy people within Mrehwa District4.KII who had been interviewed from the three villages acknowledge that GMB grain provision scheme to vulnerable households was helpful to the beneficiaries because not even a single person was able to give food assistance to those famine hit households. However the researcher has realised that food assistance is only effective as a relief strategy as it was not sustainable. The people who received GMB grain assistance required it on yearly basis. Thus GMB services were caught with many limitations than successes hence rendered ineffective.
Challenges to the promotion of food security in Mrehwa District
The promotion of food security by GMB in Mrehwa District has been hindered to a greater extent by a plethora of challenges across the political, social and economic divide.
The research finding from a questionnaire that was administered by the researcher to GMB Mrehwa Depot has revealed that late distribution of agricultural inputs to farmers within the District has compromised food security maintenance in the District. According to Mr Zanza GMB Mrehwa Depot Manager in an interview with the researcher, late distribution of agricultural inputs has been worsened by lack of transport services to reach every farmer with inputs in the District and delays made by the government to disburse funds to GMB to agricultural inputs for the farmers5. During the 2006/2007 the government failed to provide with agricultural inputs to farmers and Mrehwa Depot did not receive any produce during the 2007 marketing year and the District had to rely on imports6. Thus the researcher has observed that political stalemate in Zimbabwe has been one of the reasons contributing to late distribution of inputs and lack of transport services due to lack of funding from the government to facilitate agricultural activities in the District. Mr Duku, the Village Headman highlighted that the inputs distribution has not changed food security situation in his village due to a very low beneficiary ratio7. Only few people in the village benefit by virtue of vulnerability to food insecurity without considering the farming capabilities hence such a criterion has failed to bring change on food security in the District. Thus beneficiary selection also stands as another challenge being faced by GMB to promote food security in Mrehwa District. Noreen Chigiji, during the interview with the researcher, highlighted that there was no transparency on beneficiary selection as it was solely done by the Headman and he only chose his loyalist who attend weekly village meetings and who would provide him with some turnovers8.
Fig 2 showing GMB beneficiary percentage per village
illustration not visible in this excerpt
The graph shows number of beneficiaries per village. According to the above figures the percentage population that benefited from GMB services was far below half the total population of the stated areas,28% households in Duku and Chidhakwa Villages and 33% in Muneno village, hence the fact that GMB failed to assist the majority proves that the services are less effective.
The findings that were obtained by the researcher from an interview with the GMB Mrehwa Depot Manager, Mr Zanza, revealed that late payment of farmers by GMB has been promoting side marketing hence hindering the maintenance of District strategic grain reserve which also contributes to cumulative national strategic grain reserve which insures the people against food insecurity9. Late payment of farmers has been observed as due to late funding of GMB by the governmentand the government, which insists that farmers sell to the GMB but fails topay them in a timely manner and this underminedsustainable economic access to food for many households in Mrehwa District hence exposing them to food insecurity. According to The Zimbabwe Mail of March 28 2012,as of February 17 2012, farmers were owed a total of $30, 5 million against 2011 grain deliveries to the GMB of which $24,935 million for 2011 maize and small grains; and $5,557 million for 2011 wheat deliveries10. Late payment of farmers greatly inconvenienced them as they were unable to plan for the forthcoming season. According to Anywhere Miyora from Chidhakwavillage, in an interview with the researcher:
“zvirinanikutengeserazvirimwazvedukumamwemakambanianobhadharanekukasira pane GMBnekutimariyezvirimwaiyoyondiyoyandinodakutenganayombeunefertiliseryemwakaunoteerazvisatizvakwiramitengouyendodakutengawozvimwezvekudyazvemumbamangunekutimariyekurimaiyoyindinoiwanakamwechetepagore”.( It is better to sell our produce to other quick paying companies unlike GMB because we will be in need of preparing for the next farming season on time before the inputs prices increases and we will be in need of enjoying our money from farming that we only get once a year)11.
According to the research findings it has been revealed that the failure by GMB to pay farmers was due to delays from government to disburse the funds since GMB is wholly funded by government. According to The Zimbabwe Mail March 28 2012 Dr Joseph Made Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development has been quoted saying that,“the payment of farmers was no longer the responsibility of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) but of the government and it's government's obligation to make sure that the farmers are paid on time. We should not blame GMB for not paying farmers but government should be accountable because as we speak right now it is the same grain that is being distributed to drought prone areas of the country”12. Thus the researcher has also realised that failure by GMB to promote food security in Mrehwa District is due to lack of financial independence which compromise the GMB timely operations and the promotion of food security. The Zimbabwe Mail of March 28,2011TendaiBiti was quoted saying,“although the country would miss the targeted output of 1, 8 million tonnes, the strategic grain reserves of 500 000 tonnes plus imports from Zambia and the current crop would guarantee the country enough food in 2012 and asserted that it was better for farmers to sell their produce to private traders even though they do not provide transport because GMB was failing to pay them on time13.Tendai Biti said the government did not have the resources to fully fund agriculture and warned that a full turn-around in the sector would not be achieved unless farmers were given “securitised long land leases”14. He went on to say that, “there is no Government in the world that can ever finance agriculture in full. To expect the Government of the day, particularly the present GNU, to be able to finance agriculture is fiction. Thus, from the quote by TendaiBiti, the researcher has observed that the political tension between ZANU PF which holds ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and MDC-T which hold ministry of Finance has created a condition for political supremacy whilst compromising the GMB activities and late payment of farmers was a deliberate political move by politicians whilst hindering the promotion of food security.
In an interview with GMB Head Office Business Analyst,Tendai Shoko and LovenessChikavhanga revealed that monopolisation of marketing of controlled products,which ended in 2009 after market liberalisation, has once undermined food availability15. According to Brian Gatawa from Munenovillage, in an interview with the researcher, the grain movement restrictions hasdenied controlled grain transportation from areaswhich had excess food to those with deficitand grain has been confiscated by the GMB at road blocks16. These movement restrictions have been discovered as exacerbating the problem of low availability of maize in many parts of the country throughout the present food crisis. Restrictions on the internal movement of maize have also been relaxed in 2003 and 2004. However, these measures have also had a limited impact on availability of and access to food.
The research findings by the researcher during an interview with Mr Muneno, Village Headman ofMuneno villagerevealed that some people in the district were selling their grain to the GMB as required by law, but the GMB deliveries into those areas were inadequate thus GMB system was effectively creating a grain deficit in thoseareas17. The GMB’s distribution system has also constrained "physical access" for some people in Muneno, Duku and Chidhakwa villages, by imposing a number of restrictions on those seeking to purchase state-controlled grain. These restrictions included requiring proof of identity or residence, which has been discovered to have a disproportionately negative effect on displaced persons and other vulnerable groups, such as orphans, who do not have the required papers. Thus conditionalities in grain selling hindered other needy people to have physical access to food hence leading to GMB to be regarded as highly ineffective in Mrehwa District.
The GMB’s dominant role in grain marketing has had other negative consequences for food security. Although farmers are obliged to sell their surplus grain to the GMB, the GMB often pays them only months after it takes delivery18. The researcher had observed that farmers could not afford to buy agricultural inputs which include seeds, fertilizer and other agricultural supplies for the next season. The Catholic Relief Services noted the impact of late payment of farmerson the amount of land planted in 2003/4 in Mrehwa District as many of the farmers who sold maize to the Grain Marketing Board, in May or June 2003, had to wait up to 6-8 months before being paid and this left them with no working capital for the planting season of October/November, 2003. Largely as a result of this, areas planted to maize in Mrehwa were estimated to have dropped by between 9 percent and 37 percent19. Hence this proves that GMB has faced more challenges that success in trying to promote food security in Mrehwa District.
During an interview with a village member the researcher realised that corruption in marketing of grains and inputs distribution has also emerged as another challenge that have hindered the success of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District. MunyaradziMahere from Duku Village during the interview with the researcher stated that:
“GMB haisikupamafertiliserakakwanakuvanhuvanengevabhadharamariyekutivawaneuyevashandiveGMBvarikuuyavotengachibagenemariyakadererakubvakuvarimiivovozonotengesakumamwemakambanianopamariiripamusoro”. (GMB is not delivering fertilizers to all those who would have paid for them and GMB workers are also buying maize from the local farmers at very low prices and resell to private traders at higher prices”20.
Mr Mahere further stipulated that there were some allegations that GMB Mrehwa Depot had a court case on corruption with agricultural inputs in the 2010/2011 farming season26. Thus from the above facts corruption has been discovered as hindering many beneficiaries from getting their inputs hence exposing people to food insecurity and rendering GMB services less effective.
According to the findings by the researcher from a key informant interviewee, Dr Masama CRS Food Security Manager, revealed that GMB services in Mrehwa District could not provide people with entitlements which they can use to buy food in times of shortages thus lacking sustainability. Dr Masama further highlighted that GMB services created dependency syndrome among the people in Mrehwa District as people were being given “subsistence assistance” which was not sustainable in promoting food security21. Thus CRS came to operation in Mrehwa District to compliment the roles of GMB through implementing projects like conservation farming which was meant to alleviate late inputs distribution programme and deal with high costs of agricultural inputs from private traders, livestock and low inputgardening to promote entitlements for the local people hence a sustainable way of promoting food security. Thus the researcher has realised that the intervention by CRS into the food security sector where GMB was the major stakeholder providing same services as those of GMB like agricultural inputs distribution have shown the ineffectiveness of GMB to promote food security in MrehwaDistrict.
Politicisation of food from GMB has also stood as another challenge that has hindered GMB from attaining its goal of maintaining food security. According to Brian Gatawa from Muneno village,discrimination was rampant in access to GMB grainbasing on political grounds in MrehwaDistrict as MDC supporters were said to have been denied access to GMB services22.An interview with one of the village who was a victim of politicisation of GMB services revealed that if one supports MDC he/she was not accorded any benefits from GMB even if s/he met all the other requirements23. Thus politicisation of GMB services hindered many people from benefiting from GMB services even if they qualified to benefit. Fig 3: The graph below shows the responses by village persons on whether GMB services are political or non political.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Key: Chidhakwa Village: 19% -no idea, 26%-non political, 55% political
DukuVillage: 14%- no idea, 34% non political, 52%-political
From the above figures the researcher has realised that GMB services are offered on political grounds as indicated by 55% and 52% in Chidhakwa village and Duku villages respectively and 26% and 34% representing non political fromChidhakwa and Duku villages respectively. Thus it can be deduced that politicisation of GMB services is also a barrier towards food security attainment in Mrehwa District.
The GMB Mrehwa Depot Manager, Mr Zanza, revealedthat poor mechanisms to measure food security by GMB have also acted as a challenge for GMB to promote food security in Mrehwa District. According to Mr Zanza the GMB Mrehwa District assessed food security level by measuring the percentage visits by community leadership to the District Administrators Office to request for food assistance24. Thus the researcher has realised that this method alone is not enough to measure food security as it has some weaknesses which can be complimented by using multiple methods of assessing food security situation in the District. Other means of measuring food security can include harvests assessments and agricultural inputs availability assessment, as was done by CRS, which promote food availability, utilisation and accessibility. On a national scale GMB matches the grain intake statistics against the national requirements. However this alone does not meet the international standards as propounded by FAO in 1996 that food security is when all people at all times have both physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life25. Thusways used by GMB to measure food security only measures food availability and availability does not guarantee accessibility and utilisation, food availability is only a means not an end in promoting food security. Hence the use measures which do not meet the international standards have contributed GMB activities as less effective in trying to promote food security in Mrehwa District.
From the observations when the researcher visited GMB Mrehwa Depot for data collection, he observed that poor Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment affected service delivery at GMB Mrehwa District. The Depot only has a single computer for the whole Depot business operations and this has slowed down information dissemination hence rendering GMB services ineffective due to the afore mentioned challenge. The researcher has witnessed the problem during data collectionwhen the Depot Manager failed to provide some information that the researcher required due to unavailability of a generator to make the available single computer to function since there was no electricity.
High staff turnover which has drained much of the organisation’s resources and liquidity challenges due to the introduction of multicurrency regime has affected business operations as all Zimbabwe Dollars in bank accounts became worthless and there was no capital base to start from 2009.This saw GMB struggling to pay its debts to farmers as their outstanding balances were difficult to convert and there was no cash to pay them hence affected the agriculture as a business as farmers were left with no cash to purchase agricultural inputs for the forthcoming farming season. Thus it has been observed that economic challenges have made the GMB efforts to promote food security less effective and these were worsened by theunfavourable economic structural adjustment programmes which saw the removal of agricultural subsidies in 1991 hence led GMB to scale down its activities of subsidising agricultural activities hence GMB can be rendered ineffective as it failed to curb food security contingencies in Mrehwa District
Changing climatic conditions has made Mrehwa District to record very low rainfall unsuitable for farming operations and this has been realised as exposing the district to droughts which affect productivity hence totalling to food insecurity. The 2002 and 2007 droughts have affected agricultural production which affected the maintenance of District grain reserve hence exposing people to food insecurity. Despite GMB efforts to promote food security, the researcher have realised that these efforts by GMB have been made less useful by prevalence of droughts and failure by GMB to stay insured for such contingencies qualifies GMB to be less effective.
Conclusion
From the research findings, GMB has been seen as ineffective in promoting food security in Mrehwa District .It is through these research findings that the researcher realised that many GMB services were not reaching the intended beneficiaries, were inadequate and were also affected by lack of financial independence by the organisation.It was discovered that many intended beneficiaries did not benefit due to politicisation of GMB services, corruption and inputs were distributed late and inadequately due late disbursements of adequate funds by the government all of which have contributed to the rendering of GMB services as ineffective in Mrehwa District.
Food security promotion has been discovered as the prime duty of agricultural marketing boards in Africa. This has been clearly outlined from the examples drawn across Tropical Africa which include Food Reserve Agency in Zambia, National Agricultural Marketing Board in Namibia and GMB in Zimbabwe, to mention just a few which has maintained state monopoly to market agricultural products. Formation and roles of these state controlled entities were clearly outlined by the research. The concept of food security was also well traced its origins and the tenets of food security were successfully outlined by the researcher. This was in line with objective number one of the research which aimed at giving the historical background of state controlled entities, their roles and the background of the concept of food security in Africa.
Roles and responsibilities of GMB in Mrehwa District were clearly identified and described in line with the second research objective. The research findings has indicated that GMB in Mrehwa is responsible for grain provision to needy families, input distribution, provision of handling, storage and marketing services to farmers which facilitate the promotion of District grain reserve which insures the District against food security. Research findings has revealed that the roles of GMB has been made ineffective due to a myriad of factors which include low funding rates to GMB by government, politicisation of GMB services and climatic changes which have affected agricultural produce due to late disbursement of inputs, disbursement of inadequate inputs and improper beneficiary identification as have been highlighted in chapter 3.
The principal objective of this research which was to assess the effectiveness of GMB in promoting food security in Mrehwa District and this was in line with the third research objective .GMB has been portrayed on the media to be successful in promoting food security in Mrehwa District, with assistance from government, through its roles it has administered as highlighted above. However new analysis by the researcher reveals that GMB is failing to promote food security in Mrehwa District due to a myriad of factors that has been highlighted above which include corruption among GMB officials ,inadequate funding by the government, politicisation of GMB services and poor methods of measuring food security, to mention just a few. Research findings from village headman from sampled villages highlighted that despite GMB roles in their villages has been recording food insecurity. Therefore the researcher has realised that GMB have done a lot of roles that has been met with limited success and not enough in as much as promoting food security in Mrehwa District is concerned hence rendering GMB as ineffective in promoting food security in Mrehwa District from 2001-2011.
Endnotes
1 Interview with Joyce Nhema Village Member DukuVillage, interviewed 18 March 2012
2The Zimbabwean Mail, 30 March 2011, US$30 million worth of presidential inputs looted, p1, accessed 9 March 2012
3 Interview with Mr Zanza GMB Mrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
4http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Farmer Support Services, p3, accessed 9 February 2012
5Interview with Mr Zanza GMB Mrehwa District Depot Manager,interviewed 19 March 2012
6Interview with Mr Zanza GMB Mrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 2012
7 Interview with Mr Duku, Duku Village Headman,and interviewed 18 March 2012
8Interview with Noreen Chigiji,Chidhakwa Village,and interviewed 20 March 2012
9Interview with Mr Zanza GMB Mrehwa District Depot Manager,interviewed 19 March 2012
10The Zimbabwean Mail, 30 March 2011, US$30 million worth of presidential inputs looted, p1, accessed 9 March 2012
11 Interview with Anyway Miyora,Village Member Chidhakwa Village, 20 March 2012
12The Zimbabwean Mail, 30 March 2011, US$30 million worth of presidential inputs looted,p 1, accessed 9 March 2012
13Ibid, p2
14Ibid, p3
15Interview with Tendai Shoko and LovenessChikavhanga,Business Analysts GMB Head Office, interviewed 16 March 2012
16 Interview with Brian Gatawa Village Member MunenoVillage, interviewed 20 March 2012
17 Interview with Mr Muneno, Village Headman interviewed 20 March 2012
18The Zimbabwean Mail, 30 March 2011, US$30 million worth of presidential inputs looted,p 1, accessed 9 March 2012
19GMB National Crop Production and Intake Figures,obtained from GMB Head Office, 16 March 2012
20Interview with MunyaradziMahereDuku Village Member, interviewed 18 March 2012
21 Interview with, DrMasama Food Security Manager,interviewed 16 March 2012
22Interview with Brian Gatawa Village Member Muneno Village,interviewed 20 March 2012
23Interview with Ackman Chitsamba Village Member Chidhakwa Village,interviewed 21 March 2012
24Interview with Mr ZanzaGMB Mrehwa District Depot Manager,interviewed 19 March 2012
25Amnesty International,Zimbabwe Power and hunger – violations of the right to food,http://www.amnesty.org, p3accessed 12 January 2012
26Interview with Ackman Chitsamba Village Member Chidhakwa Village,interviewed 21 March 2012
27Interview with Tendai Shoko Business Analyst,GMB Head Office,interviewed 16 March 2012
28Interview with Mr Zanza GMB Mrehwa District Depot Manager,interviewed 19 March 2012
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andersen P, Food Security: Definition and Measurement, Cornell University, London, 2009
Alamgir M and Arora P, Providing Food Security for All, New York University Press, New York, 1991
Barrett C B and Emily Mutambatsere, Marketing Boards, Cornell University, June 2005
Bhonyongwa V, ZIMTRADE, Processed Foods, Unpublished, January 2011
Catherine D, Practical Research Methods, UBS Publishers, New Delhi, 2002
Jayne T S, Chapoto A and Govereh J, Grain Marketing Policy at the Crossroads: Challenges for Eastern and Southern Africa, Paper prepared for the FAO workshop on Staple Food Trade and Marketing Policy Options for Promoting Development in Eastern and Southern Africa, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, March1-2, 2007
Jayne T S,MukumbuM,Chisvo M, Tschirely D, Zulu B ,Michael T, Santos P and Soroko D ,Successes and Challenges of Food Market Reform: Experiences From Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Michigan State University,Michigan, 1998
Moyo S, The land and Agrarian Question in Zimbabwe, Conference on “The Agrarian Constraint and Poverty Reduction”: Macroeconomic Lessons for Africa: Addis Ababa: 17-16 December 2004
Masanganise P, Marketing Agricultural Commodities through the Zimbabwe Agricultural Commodity Exchange, FES Library, Harare, 1997
Sarris A and Morrison J, Market and Trade Policy for Staple foods in Eastern and Southern Africa, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, UK, 2010
Takavarasha T, The Role of Private Sector in Addressing Food Emergencies and Vulnerabilities in Southern Africa, University of Pretoria,Pretoria,2006
Journals
Journal for African Institute for Agrarian Studies, The Monopoly Role of GMB in Food Security: Paper prepared for the Zimbabwe Trust Dialogue on Land and Resource Rights, 16 November 2006
Jones W O, Food Crop Marketing Boards in Africa, Journal of Modern African Studies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987
Key Informant Interviews
Chigiji Noreen, Chidhakwa Village, interviewed 20 March 2012
ChikavhangaLoveness, Business Analysts GMB Head Office, interviewed 16 March 2012
Chitsamba Ackman, Village Member Chidhakwa Village, interviewed 21 March 2012
Dr Masama, Food Security Manager CRS, interviewed 16 March 2012
Duku Mr, Duku Village Headman, interviewed 18 March 2012
Gatawa Brian, Village member Muneno Village, interviewed 20 March 2012
MahereMunyaradzi, Duku Village Member, 18 March 2012
Miyora Anyway, Village Member Chidhakwa Village, 20 March 2012
Mr Zanza, Mrehwa District Depot Manager, interviewed 19 March 201
Mr Chiguvari, GMB Gweru Depot Manager, 7 February 2012
Muneno Mr, Village Headman, interviewed 20 March 2012
Nhema Joyce, Village member Duku Village, interviewed 18 March 2012
Shoko Tendai, Business Analyst, GMB Head Office, interviewed 16 March 2012
Documents from GMB Head Office
Minutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, 31 March 2011
Minutes to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made from GMB, 1 April 2010
GMB National Crop Production and Intake Figures,obtained from GMB Head Office,16 March 2012
Newspapers
Newsday,Let market forces determine commodity prices, 25 November 2011
The Zimbabwean Mail,US$30 million worth of presidential inputs looted,30 March 2011
Websites
AmartyaSen,Poverty-and-Famines-An-Essay-on-Entitlement-and-Deprivation,http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-473162/, accessed 29 March 2012
Amnesty International,Zimbabwe Power and hunger – violations of the right to foodhttp://www.amnesty.org, accessed 12 January 2012
Benedict Unendoro,Zimbabwe’s Grain Supplies Running Low,http//www.ens-newswire.com: Retrieved 8 December 2010
http://www.irinnews.org/report:Zimbabwe,The Goal in 2010 is Food Security, Retrieved 8 December 2010
Colin Stoneman and Carol Thompson, Banking on Hunger: Food Security in Zimbabwe, http//www.africafiles.org, Retrieved 8 June 2010
Malthus Thomas,Food security, “Perfect Storm”: putting current debates about agricultural productivity and climate change into an historic context, http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/sri:, accessed 29 March 2012
Railey R,Framework for use in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Food aid Programmes, http://www.fantaproject.org, 1999, accessed 28 March 2012
FAO,An introduction to the Basic Concepts of Food Security, http://www.foodsec.org/docs/concepts-guide 2008, accessed 28 March 2012
http://www.law.co.zw/index.php/agriculture/doc_download/1458-grain-marketing-act.html: Grain Marketing Act: Chapter 18:14 Part IV, Functions, Duties and Powers of GMB, 1991, accessed 7 February 2012
http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Farmer Support Services, accessed 9 February 2012
http://www.gmbdura.co.zw:Unlocking the InvestmentPotential in the GMBStockfeedsManufacturingStrategic Business Unit, June 2011, accessed 13February 2012
http//www.gmbdura.co.zw,Grain Fumigation, accessed Wednesday 29 February 2012
http//www.gmbdura.co.zw:Training Centre,accessed Wednesday 29 February 2012
Appendix 1
MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
DATE OF INTERVIEW.
To whom it may concern
My name is Liberty K Matsive (registration number R0724359N) a final year student doing BA in History and Development Studies at Midlands State University. As a partial fulfilment of my studies,i am carrying out a research entitled “An assessment of the effectiveness of Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Zimbabwe. The case of Mrehwa District from 2001 to 2011”. You have therefore been selected by virtue of Grain Marketing Board being responsible for maintaining national food security in Zimbabwe.
I am therefore kindly asking you to provide with relevant information for the interview questions. Please note that the information collected in this research will be strictly confidential and shall be used for academic purposes only, names of people interviewed will not be and publicized. You are free to decline to answer particular questions if you wish.
Thank for your cooperation
Yours Faithfully
Liberty K Matsive
MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Arts
History and Development Studies
Questionnaire with GMB Key Informant-Mrehwa District
Date of interview...
My name is Liberty K Matsive (registration number R0724359N) a Final year student at Midlands State University I’m doing this research in partial fulfilment of BA-History and Development Studies Honours degree. Please take note that this research is purely for academic purposes.
Instructions
- Put a tick in box of the appropriate answer you suggest
- Please may you respond to all questions?
1 What is the vision and core value of your organisation?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
2 Which services are being provided by GMB as an organisation in Mrehwa District to promote food security?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
3 What challenges are being encountered by GMB in trying to promote food security in Mrehwa District?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
4 What mechanisms have been put in place by GMB to deal with challenges encountered in trying to promote food security in Mrehwa?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
5 As an organisation how are you measuring food security in Mrehwa District?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
6 How are you measuring the effectiveness of the roles implemented by GMB to promote food security in Mrehwa District?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
7 Are there any notable improvements in grain delivery to Mrehwa GMB from 2001-2011?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Give the statistics:
illustration not visible in this excerpt
8 Is GMB still maintaining the monopoly role of maintaining national food security?
Yes No
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Explain...
9 Which areas do you think GMB need to improve so as to promote food security in Mrehwa District?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
Appendix 2
MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Arts
History and Development Studies
Key Informant Interview guide with village headman
Date of interview.VillageWard
1 Can you give a general background about food situation in your village?
2 Are you receiving any GMB services in your village? Explain.
3 Is everyone in the village benefiting from the GMB services? How many households are benefiting out of how many households?
4 Which selection criteria have been used to select beneficiaries?
5 Are there changes in service provision by GMB from the period 2001-2011 in your area?
6 Besides GMB are there any other organisations giving food security assistance? Which one between private organisations and GMB provided better services? Why do you say so?
7 What do you think GMB need to do to promote food security in your area?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
Appendix 3
MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Arts
History and Development Studies
Key Informant Interview guide with village members
Date of interview.VillageWard
1Does GMB provides any services to your village?
2 What kind of services is being offered by GMB in this village? Are these services helpful to the people?
3 Is everyone in the village benefiting from the services? Which selection criteria is used to select beneficiaries?
4 How do you rate GMB services?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
5 Can people in this village do without GMB assistance?
6 Besides GMB are there any other organisations giving food security assistance in this village?
7 Which one between private organisations and GMB provided better services?
8 What do you suggest that GMB need to do to promote food security in your area?
THANKYOU FOR YOUR TIME
Appendix 4
MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Arts
History and Development Studies
Questionnaire with GMB Key Informant-Head office-SamoraMachel Avenue Harare
Date of interview.
My name is Liberty K Matsive (registration number R0724359N) a Final year student at Midlands State University I’m doing this research in partial fulfilment of BA-History and Development Studies Honours degree. Please note that the information collected in this research will be strictly confidential and shall be used for academic purposes only, names of people interviewed will not be and publicized. You are free to decline to answer particular questions if you wish.
Instructions
- Put a tick in box of the appropriate answer you suggest
- Please may you respond to all questions?
1 What is the vision and core values of your organisation?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
2 What roles are being played by GMB to promote national food security?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
3 What challenges have been encountered by GMB in trying to promote national food security?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
.4 What mechanisms have been put in place by GMB to deal with challenges encountered?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
5 As an organisation how are you measuring national food security?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Explain
7 How are you measuring the effectiveness of the roles implemented by GMB to promote Food security?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
8 Are there any notable improvements in grain delivery to GMB from 2001-2011?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Give the statistics:
illustration not visible in this excerpt
9 Is GMB still maintaining the monopoly role of maintaining national food security?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Explain...
10 Which areas do you think GMB need to improve so as to promote national food security?
illustration not visible in this excerpt
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
Appendix 5
MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Arts
History and Development Studies
Key Informant Interview with Catholic Relief Services-Harare
Date of interview.
My name is Liberty K Matsive a Final year student at Midlands State University I’m doing this research in partial fulfilment of BA-History and Development Studies Honours degree. Please note that the information collected in this research will be strictly confidential and shall be used for academic purposes only, names of people interviewed will not be and publicized. You are free to decline to answer particular questions if you wish.
1 What is the vision and core value of the organisation?
2 What are the organisations main activities?
3Where you complementing or competing with GMB when you were operating in Mrehwa District?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
- Quote paper
- Liberty K Matsive (Author), 2012, The effectiveness of Grain Marketing Board in promoting food security in Zimbabwe, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/294907
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