This would not only require an investment in seed multiplication and breeding, but also a reorientation of farmer attitudes to see groundnuts as a cash crop rather than something grown mainly for household subsistence. Since 1985, communal and resettlement farmers have produced less than 4 500 tons per year compared with an annual total of more than 100 000 tons for commercial growers; in 1999/2000 LSC farmers produced a record harvest equal to nearly 140 000 metric tons. Most soybeans are grown in the high-potential areas of Natural Region II where approximately one third of the area planted on LSC farms is under irrigation. Zimbabwe is self-sufficient in soybean meal and regularly exports cake to South Africa, Zambia and other regional markets. Domestic market outlets for soybeans include use as a high protein cake for stockfeed; a high energy feed for livestock; a source of protein in corn-soy blends; a meat extender; and a direct human food. Large refining companies process more than 90% of Zimbabwe’s soybean harvest using solvent extraction methods that yield about 18% oil. Zimbabwe is not self-sufficient in edible oil, however, and regularly imports about one third of its annual crude oil requirement for domestic refining.13 Although price controls are not imposed on soybeans, it is sometimes difficult to obtain export permits for trade with higher-value international markets. Soybeans are typically grown by most LSC farmers on very large plots in rotation with irrigated winter wheat. This rotation is an important part of many farm systems, not only in terms of the revenue generated,equipment for vertical farming but also because soybeans help maintain soil fertility and offer a good way to share limited irrigation equipment. On the other hand, both soybeans and wheat grow best on heavier soils than those suited to tobacco and many farmers also prefer to cultivate these crops in different sections of their farm depending on soil type.
Most LSC farmers achieve a yield between 2.2 and 2.5 tons per hectare; smallholder yields are around 1.0 tons per hectare when fertiliser is used. The financial indicators for dryland and irrigated soybeans are summarised in Table 21. Compared with all other LSC enterprises, these data show that soybeans are highly unprofitable except for the fact that they are relatively inexpensive to produce and usually grown in large quantities throughout the year. It must also be kept in mind that soybeans are normally grown in rotation with irrigated wheat, which is highly profitable and can easily offset the net losses shown below. With high input management, the gross profits from dryland and irrigated soybeans are reasonably attractive, but still only sufficient to finance 6% to 8% of the preharvest cash costs for a single hectare of dryland flue-cured tobacco respectively. In terms of labour requirements, LSC soybeans are the least labour intensive crop analysed and rarely demand additional casual workers. Although relatively few smallholder farmers grow soybeans, a quantitative analysis was carried out to assess the overall viability of this enterprise. Efforts were made a few years ago to promote soybeans as a cash crop among smallholder farmers through a seed distribution program. However, most of the harvest was retained for home consumption and there has been little work to support smallholder soybeans since. The smallholder soybeans results are summarised in Table 22.These data show that soybeans are one of the least expensive crop options available to smallholder farmers. On the other hand, the estimated gross and net profits are also very low and all other enterprises offer a potential for greater farmer income. In interpreting these results, however, it should be noted that that the daily returns to family labour are higher than for any other crop that does not require additional hired workers.
The returns would be even greater if measured by the crop’s imputed food security value, suggesting that soybeans may be an especially good food security choice for households with a shortage of active workers. As a cash enterprise, however, smallholder farmers do not have the capacity to grow soybeans in large quantities and so are unable to achieve the same economies of scale that help to justify LSC production. LSC farmers grow virtually all the wheat produced in Zimbabwe as an irrigated winter crop. Total production is normally between 225 000 and 250 000 metric tons from an area of about 50 000 hectares. Zimbabwe is a net importer of wheat, but still exports several thousand tons annually to Zambia, Malawi and other regional buyers. Very little wheat is traded with South Africa, however, since farmers in that country benefit from production and export subsidies with which Zimbabwe cannot compete. In this respect, there has been some recent debate over the efficiency of growing wheat in Zimbabwe since high irrigation costs make domestic production expensive compared with other world producers. Once transportation costs are taken into account, however, it is generally acknowledged the costs of local production are lower than import parity. Zimbabwe also enjoys a competitive edge in other regional markets like Zambia where production costs are even higher. Total domestic demand is around 400 000 metric tons per year. Wheat has been an important catalyst for the development irrigation in Zimbabwe and is a central part of most LSC farm systems. The crop was mainly introduced during the 1970s as part of the strategy to cope with international sanctions imposed on what was then Rhodesia. A revolving fund was established specifically to help LSC farmers invest in the irrigation equipment needed for wheat. Although farmers were obliged to grow wheat as part of this scheme, they quickly started to use the new equipment for other crops as well including irrigated tobacco groundnuts, soybeans and maize.
Wheat grows best on relatively heavy soils and is typically planted in rotation with rain fed soybeans. Although not ideal complements in terms of soil type, a typical rotation for many LSC farmers is to follow flue-cured tobacco by irrigated winter wheat and then smaller plots of soybeans, groundnuts and maize in the next rainy season. This section considers the costs and returns for three non-traditional crops: coffee, paprika and marigold.14 Horticultural exports including supermarket vegetables and roses are considered separately in the next section. As a group, the crops covered here all have the potential to grow well in tobacco areas and are indicative of some of the diversification opportunities available in Zimbabwe. The costs of production for these crops are generally higher than for most traditional field crops,vertical farming systems but lower than for tobacco and horticultural exports. In most cases, tobacco still provides more income on a per hectare basis, but the returns from nontraditional crops are attractive in their own right and could perhaps even substitute for tobacco as the foundation of a highly profitable farm system. Specific production and marketing issues for each crop are discussed below. 114. Beyond the crops covered here, many other niche products also offer diversification potential for smallholder and LSC farmers including mushrooms, flower seeds, game ranching, medicinal plants and spices. These enterprises are all being pursued on a limited basis in Zimbabwe and can provide an important source of farm income and improved cash flow. Compared with tobacco, however, the market outlets for these products are more limited and each farmer must find the right mix of enterprises that works best for them. A good area for further analysis would be to calculate production budgets and farm models based on these and other diversification options.Citrus crops including oranges, grapefruit and lemons, for example, are an especially important diversification option with more than 88 000 hectares of permanent orchards planted on LSC farms as of 1999. Unfortunately, reliable data on the costs of production for these crops were not available and it would be misleading to comment on their costs and profitability. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that the returns may not be very high and one farmer with a fifty-hectare orchard complained of serious marketing problems and large net losses. One of the problems this grower identified with citrus is that these crops are perishable and so cannot be stored for a long time to take advantage of seasonal price variations. On the other hand, this grower also pointed out that citrus can be sold for foreign exchange and so can be justified as part of the farm system even at a net loss. Citrus trees take about three to four years to produce their first fly crop and only reach full maturity after ten years.
Game ranching on LSC farms is another popular diversification activity. In tobacco areas, wildlife ranching began in the mid-1970s mainly as a hobby on unused land not suited for intensive cropping. Since then, the wildlife sector has developed into a fully integrated part of many farm systems with production for hunting and photographic safaris; game meat; and sale of live animals to other ranches or private tourist parks. Although wildlife could never substitute for intensive cropping in high potential areas, game management has become an important source of supplemental income and can easily generate an income of several thousand USD annually. Establishment costs include game fencing, animal stock, watering points plus road construction and guest cottages for safari visitors. As an industry that caters primarily to overseas tourists, the wildlife sector has been especially hard hit by recent instability in Zimbabwe. Large-scale commercial farmers. A summary of key production costs for the three non-traditional LSC crops covered here is given in Table 24. Compared with tobacco, each non-traditional crop costs about the same or less than tobacco except for long-season paprika. Marigold costs about the same as many traditional field crops whereas coffee and paprika are among the most expensive enterprises analysed because of high irrigation requirements and intensive use of fertilisers and agrochemicals. These 3 crops all demand less labour than tobacco, but still have a high overall wage bill and generate anywhere from 50 to 250 days casual employment per hectare plus additional jobs in downstream processing. Because coffee and paprika are grown to fairly uniform standards only two management levels have been analysed for these crops; marigold is relatively new to Zimbabwe and just one management level is considered in this case. Importantly, the results above clearly show that gross and net profits from other crops can rival and even surpass tobacco on LSC farms. Although the returns from coffee are rather low with current prices, farmer profits improve significantly at values closer to the long-term average. The returns from paprika are also very attractive, especially when grown as a long-season crop with high input management. Although limited world demand means that paprika prices are highly sensitive to production increases, inclusion of this crop as part of a mixed farm system has the potential to reduce growers’ dependence on tobacco. Estimated profits for marigold are considerably lower than for coffee and paprika, but still rival the income that can be earned from most traditional crops including wheat, cotton, groundnuts and maize consumed on-farm. 120. Smallholder farmers. Due to various barriers including high production costs, lack of extension support, uncertain returns and special infrastructure requirements, smallholder farmers have fewer opportunities to grow and market non-traditional cash crops than LSC farmers. Previous efforts to promote coffee and paprika among smallholder growers have been uneven at best and certainly not on a scale needed to attract broad segments of the tobacco growing population away from this crop. Smallholder coffee is perhaps the best developed, but production has been based entirely in the Eastern Highlands and there has been no work to develop the type of communal irrigation and pulping facilities needed to support farmers in flue-cured tobacco areas. Even as an alternative to burley tobacco grown in the Eastern Highlands, much work is still needed to develop appropriate management skills and infrastructure. As yet, marigold has not been promoted to any great extent as a smallholder crop but is likely to do well on communal lands since it is not fastidious to soil type or moisture.Key production costs for non-traditional smallholder crops are summarised in Table 26.Although paprika looks expensive in its own right, and certainly costs more than coffee, total variable costs are still only about 57% of those for flue-cured tobacco at each corresponding management level.