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Zimbabwe: First report of the portfolio committee on lands, agriculture, water development, rural resources and resettlement on food stocks
Presented To Parliament on Wednesday, 10th November 2004
SARPN acknowledges VERITAS as the source of this report: please note that this version does not include a table on yields per hectare.
This will be included as soon as it is received from Veritas.
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Introduction
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On 2nd June 2004, the House, through a motion which had been moved by Hon Gasela, mandated the Committee to verify levels of food stocks in the country vis-а-vis the assurance made by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development that there was adequate food in the country as a harvest of 2.4 million tonnes of maize was expected. For clarity purposes, the motion was as follows:-
COGNISANT that the Government has released the final crop forecast of 2 400 000 tonnes of maize for 2003/4 cropping season;
CONCERNED that independent forecasts have come up with much lower maize production figures; and
NOTING the importance of food availability in the country;
NOW THEREFORE, this House resolves that the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water Development, Rural Resources and Resettlement ascertains the availability of food stocks in the country.
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Pursuant to the resolution of the House, the Committee carried out an enquiry to establish levels of food stocks in the country against the government stated forecast figures. In its enquiry the Committee confined itself to maize and wheat, as these are the main staple foods in the country. To this end, the Committee received oral evidence from the following witnesses:
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Grain Marketing Board
Col Muvuti - Acting Chief Executive Officer
Mr Makwenda - Marketing Director
Major Jerera - National Food Taskforce Committee Member
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Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Mr Masoka - Permanent Secretary
Mr. Zishiri - AREX National Coordinator
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As much as the Committee would have wanted to carry out fact finding visits to selected GMB Silos and depots to establish hard facts on the ground, the Committee was, however, not able to do so due to budgetary constraints. Thus, the Committee only relied on the evidence presented to it by GMB and Ministry officials.
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