In the smallholder subsector on the communal lands and resettlement areas, there is a need to increase land and labour productivity and to intensify production in order to ensure household food security and produce an income.
Increases in a crop production in the past two decades have resulted largely from an expansion in area rather than increases in land and labour productivity. Crop yields remain low compared with the potential in the different AEZs and with the yields of the same crops obtained in the large-scale farming subsector.
The regular application of fertilizers is necessary for the optimal economic production of most crops. However, since the start of the structural reform programme in 1990, fertilizer use in the smallholder subsector has declined owing to increased fertilizer prices and financial constraints. The inadequate level of investment in soil fertility is leading to land degradation.
Smallholder farmers account for only one-fifth of total fertilizer demand. There is ample scope for increased demand from this subsector both by those farmers already using fertilizer increasing their rates of application and by others adopting fertilizer use.
There will be an expansion of arable agriculture in the farming subsectors created as a result of the land and agrarian reform programme. However, the total fertilizer demand from the new farming subsectors may remain below that of the former large-scale farmers if the rates of application and the area of land under crop remain lower than that of the former large-scale producers.
Provided the above issues are addressed, the prospects for increased fertilizer use are favourable. However, there are a number of major constraints on fertilizer use. These include:
Availability and affordability of the fertilizers to farmers. Improved arrangements for the financing of farmer credit are indicated.
Access to fertilizers. Fertilizers and other inputs (such as seeds and agrochemicals) should be more readily available in the farming areas.
Supply of fertilizers. This needs to be increased. As observed by Mashingaidze (2004), foreign exchange and credit facilities are needed for the importation of improved fertilizer production technologies, enabling them to rehabilitate current fertilizer manufacturing plants and invest in new fertilizer manufacturing facilities.
Competition. There is a need to promote a more competitive environment for fertilizer supply.
Price controls. Governmental price control of fertilizers needs reviewing as it does not assist the intended beneficiaries, i.e. smallholders. Price controls create opportunities for corrupt officials to sell fertilizer at prices above the level of a competitive market.
In a study on persuading farmers to use fertilizers, Rusike and Dimes (1993) highlighted the following factors:
The supply of other inputs (e.g. seeds) should be linked to that of fertilizers.
