afrol News / IRIN, 15 September - Soldiers are being deployed to seize Zimbabwe's grain harvest from farmers, in what appears to be a tacit acknowledgement that the government's projected 1.8 million tonne crop will not be met.

The troop deployment follows Operation Maguta, in which soldiers supervised agricultural production on farms and, in some cases, forced farmers to produce maize ahead of other crops such as onions and tomatoes.

The state-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB), the sole agency authorised to sell and buy maize, warned farmers in a recent statement that "there will be a massive grain collection exercise in conjunction with members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. This is being done in order for GMB to fulfill its strategic commitment of ensuring food security."

In response to an opposition party member's question in parliament, agriculture minister Joseph Made conceded that despite good rains the country faced food distribution problems. "Indeed, we have been having a problem of supplying grain to the millers - we have been balancing the distribution between what we have already collected and what we have imported."

Independent agricultural analysts predicted a maize harvest of 700,000 tonnes, while GMB depots have only received 300,000 tonnes so far, leaving a shortfall of over million tonnes in the country's annual cereal requirement of about 1.9 million tonnes.

The decision to use troops to collect maize from the farmers came after many resorted to selling their harvest to middlemen offering prices above the Z$31,000 (US$124) a tonne being paid by the grain board. Selling grain to anyone other than the board is illegal, but farmers said they had no option.

"We delivered our maize grain to the GMB in June, but up to now we still have not been paid," said Robert Marufu, who farms in Mazowe, near the capital, Harare, in Mashonaland Central Province. "I have started selling some maize which I retained to middlemen, who are buying at Z$100,000 (US$400) a tonne compared to the Z$31,000 (US$124) GMB is offering."

Marufu told IRIN he was concerned that with the new planting season a few weeks away, and the GMB's failure to pay him for his maize, he would be unable to buy farming inputs for the coming season.

Local state-controlled media have been awash with reports that senior government officials, including President Robert Mugabe, have received billions of dollars for their agricultural produce, while small-scale farmers remain unpaid.

Simon Pazvakavambwa, permanent secretary in the agriculture ministry, refused to say why soldiers were being deployed to oversee grain collection, but said farmers who wished to retain some of their crop were entitled to do so.

"There is a process that has to be followed, and any farmer who wants to keep part of his grain can always apply," he said.

But farmers in remote rural areas are often unaware of the procedures, and it is expected that many will just surrender their crop and not keep any for their own needs.

© afrol News / IRIN

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