HARARE -- Zimbabwe will today and tomorrow hold a national agricultural stakeholders conference in the capital to review the status of the agricultural sector and come up with a recovery strategy.

Agriculture used to be the country’s economic mainstay, but has been on the decline since 2000 when government embarked on a chaotic land reform programme, which resulted in about 5 000 productive white farmers thrown out their farms and replaced with under-funded black villagers who have failed to maintain food production.

Since then, Zimbabwe that was the Southern Africa ’s breadbasket has been reduced to a basket case, gripped by severe food shortages and avoiding mass starvation only because international relief agencies were quick to step in with food handouts.

Ngoni Masoka, the permanent secretary in the ministry of agriculture, mechanisation and irrigation development, told Zimonline yesterday that the conference would be bankrolled by the Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund – a World Bank created fund.

“The goal of the conference is to review the current status of the agricultural sector and map out a strategy for agricultural recovery in the short to medium term,” Masoka said. “We want to get stakeholder participation and input into formulating an agricultural strategy and to provide medium term strategies necessary for the growth of agriculture.”

Agricultural experts and farmer organisation have been lined up to present papers on various issues, among them, the challenges in inputs and outputs markets and recommend possible policy options and review the challenges in agricultural financing and recommend possible policy options.

The conference, that takes place ironically as supporters of President Robert Mugabe have stepped up farm invasions across the country, would also get the donor perspective on Zimbabwean agriculture and review the state of preparedness for the 2009/10 agricultural season.

By Zimonline