By Staff Reporter
Zimbabwe must urgently position feed and fodder as a stand-alone economic sector of strategic importance if it is to benefit from liberalised trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), or risk becoming a net importer of feed, fodder and protein-sourced foods, experts have warned.
With AfCFTA creating a single African market of about 1.2 billion people valued at roughly US$2.5 trillion, analysts say Zimbabwe has the potential to unlock up to US$25 billion from the feed and fodder industry by 2030 if the sector is commercialised and supported by policy.
AfCFTA came into effect on May 30 after being ratified by at least 22 member states, including Zimbabwe, and is expected to significantly boost intra-African trade.
Development economist and consultant with the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources under the Zimbabwe Feed and Fodder Multi-Stakeholder Platform, Dr Benjamin Mudiwa, said feed and fodder should no longer be treated as a sub-sector under livestock but as a full economic industry.
“When we look at feed and fodder as a sector, including hay and silage production, fodder seed multiplication, infrastructure, processing, value addition and trade under AfCFTA, the value comes to about US$2,500 per tonne of feed, including value addition,” Dr Mudiwa said.
He said Zimbabwe’s estimated annual feed and fodder demand stood at about 10.7 million tonnes, but he preferred to use a conservative figure of 10 million tonnes.
“You multiply 10 million tonnes by about US$2,500 and you arrive at roughly US$25 billion. That is the potential Zimbabwe has if feed and fodder stands on its own as an economic sector,” he said.
Dr Mudiwa said commercialisation had to start at grassroots level and include smallholder farmers, who make up more than 90 percent of Zimbabwe’s farming population.
“When we talk about smallholder farmers, we should recognise them as smallholder commercial farmers. We are not starting from ground zero. There has been activity, but we need to move away from business as usual,” he said.
He said creativity and innovation were needed to move feed and fodder beyond pockets of informal production.
“Fodder production and seed multiplication exist, but they are not mainstream. We want to take this to another level. Feed and fodder should not only sit under the livestock umbrella. There are entrepreneurs who are not traditional farmers who can venture into this as a stand-alone business,” Dr Mudiwa said.
He noted that labour constraints among smallholder farmers, driven by youth migration and prioritisation of food crops, meant there was space for specialised fodder producers, or “fodderpreneurs”, to fill the gap.
“There is huge local demand and there is also strong export potential. Countries such as Botswana, South Africa and Namibia are importing feed and fodder. That means there is already a ready market,” he said.
Dr Mudiwa warned that failure to develop the sector would leave Zimbabwe importing feed under AfCFTA, increasing pressure on foreign currency reserves.
“I am an advocate for exports. We should be exporting feed and fodder and earning foreign currency, rather than importing products where we clearly have a comparative advantage,” he said.
David Maina, Feed and Fodder Business Development Expert for the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems Project under AU-IBAR, said unlocking the US$25 billion potential would also improve livestock productivity and human nutrition.
“This sector is bigger than many manufacturing or retail sectors. It deserves the same level of attention from government and stakeholders,” Maina said.
“When we produce animal products competitively, eggs, poultry, meat and milk become affordable. That allows more people to access protein-rich foods, which is ultimately a human development objective,” he said.
Meanwhile, government says feed and fodder development is central to its livestock growth plans.
Speaking at a ZFFMSP breakfast meeting in Harare last week, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Professor Obert Jiri said Zimbabwe aims to increase its national cattle herd from 5.7 million to 6.6 million by 2030.
“Our targets include increasing broiler production to 362,000 metric tonnes and milk production to 200 million litres by 2030,” Prof Jiri said in a speech read on his behalf by Sitokozile Sibanda, director in the Department of Livestock Production and Development.
“For this, we need a secure, competitive and sustainable feed and water base. Partnership is key,” he said.
Prof Jiri said government was promoting drought-resistant fodder crops and irrigation to reduce reliance on rainfall.
“We have over 10,000 dams and a target of 35,000 rural boreholes under the Presidential Rural Development Programme to support year-round irrigated fodder production,” he said.
ZFFMSP chairperson Dr Nathaniel Makoni said Zimbabwe lost significant livestock during the 2023 to 2024 drought, underscoring the need for a competitive feed system.
“Our vision is US$25 billion. This opportunity lies in building a globally competitive livestock sector that reduces production costs and improves feed and food quality,” he said.
AU-IBAR RAFFS Project coordinator Dr Sarah Ashanut Ossiya said Africa must rapidly scale up livestock production while ensuring sustainability.
“Africa must scale up livestock production and make it accessible through institutionalised, feed-based systems driven by trade opportunities,” she said.
She added that environmental sustainability would require greater use of irrigated and climate-resilient feed systems rather than dependence on rainfall.
