SA must nurture small-scale farmers
· Citizen
There are lessons – and warnings – to be had from our northern neighbour, Zimbabwe, about how to handle the economy to ensure that it does not implode around you.
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When the exodus of white farmers began in the early 2000s, following the seizure of farms across Zimbabwe, there were predictions that agriculture would collapse… and in many areas, that happened.
That was because the government in Harare had failed to properly empower and support black, small-scale farmers right from the time of independence in 1980.
Had that happened, then the shock to agriculture would have been lessened.
By now, however, black small-scale farmers are becoming almost the mainstay of the farming economy, producing the bulk of the country’s maize output and, as we report today, accounting for record production of tobacco, the crop which brings in vital foreign exchange.
Production soared to 355 000 tons in 2025 and a harvest of more than 360 000 tons is expected this year after a 15% increase in the planted area, an official said.
That’s a dramatic turnaround for a sector that crashed to 48 000 tons in 2008 after the land seizures.
Around 95% of Zimbabwe’s more than 127 000 registered tobacco farmers are contracted smallholders, who account for 85% of all output.
Most of them are contracted to foreign, mainly Chinese, companies under a contract system, which advances inputs like seed and fertiliser against a guaranteed purchase price.
That leaves many struggling to keep their heads above water, amid allegations that the companies keep prices artificially low.
However, because small-scale farmers don’t hold title to their land, banks will not advance them loans… so they have few options.
If we want to grow our small-scale farming sector, we must support farmers ourselves, rather than allow voracious outsiders to do it.
That’s only another form of colonialism.