Story by Lisa Masuku-Kurira
GOVERNMENT is championing the cultivation of sunflower through the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme in an effort to boost the country’s oilseed production and enhance food security.
With the country’s import bill for crude oil exceeding US$200 million, the government is working on strategies to reduce the bill and increase local production.
In a recent interview with ZBC News during a field visit to Umguza, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri, urged farmers to capitalise on sunflower production to strengthen the country’s oilseed security.
“Every household uses cooking oil yet as a country we import over US$240 million worth of crude oil, which is basically crushed sunflower seed. We encourage our intwasa farmers to grow traditional grains and sunflower,” Professor Jiri said.
To promote basic value addition, Professor Jiri also implored farmers to crush and express sunflower at local level.
“The small oil expressing machines that do one bucket of sunflower seed can help in terms of promoting access or availability cooking oil at household level,” he said.
Sunflower production is one of the focus areas under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme, which has seen the government providing inputs to equip farmers.
