‘Donor Agencies Are Killing Business, By Feeding Starving Villagers’-Zimbabwe’s Millers Association

GRAIN Millers Association of Zimbabwe says donor agencies bringing food into the country to starving villagers are killing their businesses as customers are noticeably no longer buying indeginous products thus pushing the local food industry towards decimation.

Chairperson of the association, Tafadzwa Musarara said this to NewZimbabwe.com at the side lines of the launch of humanitarian assistance programs to provide immediate support to people facing food insecurity by USAID and UK DFID last week.

Musarara said in essence Zimbabwe was simply providing market for American products.

According to the project, DFID will give each selected house hold $25.00 per month while USAID will provide food assistance.

“In terms of the USAID programme we are against it because it is bringing in some of the products which are ordinarily manufactured in Zimbabwe,” said Musarara.

“If you look at the value addition policy and the call by private sector to localise some these products for instance cooking oil, it flies in the efforts to ensure that our local industry is given enough space to produce for the local market.

“And we hope that these products are not going to be distributed with abundant recklessness to the extent that we will see some of these products coming into the urban areas and being resold on the black market.

“If that happens then we are slowly pushing our cooking oil industry and food industry towards closure,” he said.

He added that in future USAID should replicate what the UKAID has done, injecting money into the economy. He said that form of support is very critical as it allows those in need to buy locally manufactured food stuffs.

Commenting on whether they have engaged the donor agencies on the issue Musarara said they met with their members who said they preferred money being given to starving villagers who would in turn buy from the local producers.

“Yes and we told them the advantages as this will also create employment and also revive the agriculture sector and in that case UKAID took our advice and the USAID completely ignored it and proceeded with what we had told them not to do.”

The two donors contributed a combined total of $43 million to provide food and cash to over 650,000 individuals in 29 districts across Zimbabwe and these will be distributed through trusted partners, including the United Nations’ World Food Programme and CARE Zimbabwe. Source-newzimbabwe

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