Yield for Zimbabwe’s major crops has remained lower than average among low middle-income economies (LMICs) despite government support, according to the World Bank (WB).
According to the bank’s Zimbabwe Country Economic Memorandum launched recently, titled Boosting Productivity and Quality Jobs, the country needs to accelerate productivity and ensure quality jobs to achieve the ambitious goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030.
The report was prepared by the Country Management Unit led by Mara Warwick.
“The government of Zimbabwe has provided significant support to the agricultural sector since the early 2000s, recently in the form of command agriculture and input schemes,” the report read.
“Despite significant public spending on agriculture, food insecurity remains high, while agricultural productivity is one of the lowest in the region. Growth of labour productivity and yields of major crops have been below those in peer countries — this relates to LMICs in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
“Productivity is the ultimate driver of economic growth and living standards. Overall productivity has been constrained by weak productivity in the agriculture sector. Increasing productivity is essential for raising incomes and improving livelihoods.”
The WB recommended that Zimbabwe should come up with policies that boost the sector.
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