MUNYARADZI Kereke (MK), the advisor to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono, is proving to be a man of many talents. Not only is he an economist of note but he has also struck a rich vein in farming. The Financial Gazette’s Chief Business Reporter Shame Makoshori (SM) caught up with him after he was awarded one of the top prizes as a tobacco farmer and asked these questions:
SM: Most people know you as a fine economist-turned banker. What influenced you to venture into tobacco farming in particular and agriculture in general?
MK: True, I am an economist to the bone but I have entrepreneurial interests in other fields and agriculture is one of them. Frankly, I honestly believe the agricultural sector is the foundation of our economy and I found it worthy to play a part in it. This is why I am a farmer. Specifically my team and I grow tobacco, maize, wheat and greenhouse vegetables, as well as cattle ranching. This is what we are doing.
SM: Your entry into farming seems to contradict views held by most local economists who are against the manner in which the land reform programme was handled. They cite its impact on agriculture production, which suffered a severe knock and its contagion on the rest of the country’s economy. What is your view about the land reform exercise?
MK: My personal views are that the land reform programme was as necessary as it was inevitable as a structural, intrinsic shift towards more equitable distribution of land. In any structural change, as long as it affects more than one individual, there can never be “the perfect way” of doing things. Accordingly, therefore, as a nation, it is better that we focus more time on implementing current and future policies that support the majority of farmers, as opposed to non-productive syntheses of who is to blame for this and that as happened in the past.
If we continue to have such appetite for looking backwards, where should we end? It is a fact that on the 1st of April, 1931, the Land Apportionment Act formally segmented Zimb-abwe’s land, which dispossessed defenceless indigenous people off this prime resource at zero price transfers and, today, global historians and modern day “experts” on international law seem to conveniently ignore this heinous episode.
Earlier on, the Land Occupation Conditions Act of the 9th of November, 1900 had dished out land under title deeds to the exotic invaders under conditions, which have the capacity to ignite uncontrollable anger to today’s readers. For instance, for a white settler to get title to land, under Sections 3(a) and 3(b) of the said Act of 1900, one only needed to have erected modest buildings or ought to have “maintained thereon for three years not less that 20 head of horned cattle, horses, mules or asses, or otherwise 150 sheep, goats or pigs.” That was the law then and yet today we see those you refer to as “most local economists” who look down upon new farmers behaving like the biblical Pharisees who wiggle and wail in dust wearing sacks to be seen by the world that they know the precise mechanics of property rights, rule of law and other Heavenly orders of human existence. So yes, I am very proud to be a farmer and my team and I are working like ants to be as productive as we can to contribute positively to the national cake of the economy. Making money is, of course a beneficial side effect from that process.
SM: Winning the second prize is no mean achievement considering that most people who entered farming during your time are still considered to be “new farmers” so to speak. What is the secret to your success?
MK: Farming is a business. To succeed one has to have the right team; one has to plan way ahead of time and also there has got to be adequate financial support from the banking system.
It is the area of bank support that needs to be greatly improved upon as this is weakening many able and willing farmers out there.
SM: What is your advice to other new farmers?
MK: My advice to other new farmers is that for good results, avoid cell phone farming; never stop learning; and always do things on time. Specifically in the area of tobacco farming. I wish to advise farmers to please take up hailstorm insurance policies as this mitigates against the hazards of hefty losses emanating from the vagaries of the weather. This is very important.
SM: Tobacco output has declined significantly in the past decade from 250 million kg in 1999 to about 114 million kg this year. What can be done to correct this situation?
MK: The tobacco train is back on line and I am confident that next season, that is the 2010 – 2011 season will see us surpassing the historical peak you mention.
To fortify this looming positive possibility, we urge government and the banking sector to please support us with facilities or windows to access working capital.
We will pay back our loans.
Secondly, there is need for us, as tobacco farmers to sharpen our knowledge base through constant exposure of our teams to latest approaches to the production cycle. It is also imperative that farmers keep their eyes open and guard against fly by night contractors who only make farmers sign dubious contracts that are devoid of tangible support to the farmer, only for the “contractors” to resurface at the auction floors with stop-orders to clamp away money from ill-informed farmers. Tobacco associations should, therefore, step in to educate us on these issues among other strategic marketing arrangements.
SM: What is the future like for agriculture in Zimbabwe?
MK: The future of Zimbabwe’s agriculture is phenomenally bright. Alre-ady, as announced by the Honourable Minister of Finance in his recent budget review statement we are seeing annual real growth rates in excess of 18 percent in the sector, which is just but the beginning of good times.
Along with this positive outlook in agriculture will, of course, be the trickle-down upward effect on the rest of the economy, particularly if the right policy mixes and implementation programmes are done with vigour, determination and enthusiasm.
SM: How do you balance your responsibilities; being an advisor to the central bank governor while at the same time running a thriving farming enterprise among other responsibilities?
MK: Time is a scarce commodity and as such one must optimise its usage at all times. This is exactly what guides me in my modest efforts.
SM: There is a strong view that those taking up farming should do it on a full time basis just like what the former white commercial farmers used to. In your opinion is there any merit in this view?
MK: I agree that farmers must avoid cellphone or remote control supervision of their operations on the farms as this inevitably leads to what I can call transcription inefficiencies where instructions are either misunderstood or the principal getting exaggerated reports from teams on the ground.
This said, however, there is still scope for effective agricultural production by farmers employed elsewhere, provided that they actively lead the planning and performance review processes through motivated, skilled and reliable teams on the ground.
I strongly do not believe in ultra-specialisation where one’s life is spent doing just one thing. Life would be so boring if that were to be the case.
Diversification is, therefore, a perspective that expands human capacities beyond the possibility frontiers that would otherwise be set through polar fixations in given lines of productive enterprise.
SM: When is the official commissioning of the Medical Centre project?
MK: The Rockfoundation Medical Centre (RMC) will open very soon. In fact, the pharmacy and the ambulance wings are now fully licensed and operational. Next will be the doctors’ GP rooms, trauma management, dental and eye clinics, followed by laboratory and radiology, once all the equipment arrives.
All these areas will be announced once things are fully in place and the regulatory authorities have given us the full green light.
SM: How many people would be employed by the clinic?
MK: Once fully operational, the RMC will initially employ 120 people with the potential for more as we spread our wings country-wide.
SM: How significantly different is this facility from other medical centres mushrooming around the country?
MK: The medical field is legally restrained from publicly advertising competency areas at institutions. I am, therefore, unable to fully describe the full extent of the innovations at RMC.
The public will spread the word through word of mouth once we start full operations. We will also soon have an open day for the Press prior to opening so that a better appreciation of what the RMC has to offer will be established. This, again, will be announced when it is time.
SM: There has been controversy surrounding your medical centre in Harare. What is the current position regarding that facility?
MK: The controversy was really riveted around one individual who, for some weird reasons, is still opposed to this project even as I respond to your questions now.
I am sure once the full extent of this project unfolds, greater appreciation of its virtues will become apparent. But otherwise the project is now on the verge of full implementation as we have practically been working closely with regulatory authorities who are inspecting us as we go. I am very pleased that we have managed to fully comply with all the regulatory requirements.
SM: It must be extremely difficult to put together such a massive facility. How are you funding this project?
MK: We are being supported by local and regional banks through commercial loans. Though sometimes expensive, these loans have made all the difference and we encourage the banking sector to continue being progressive through similar support to other developmental projects.
Of course, being a farmer and owner of other modest ventures, I am channeling part of my income towards the project and this has come in very handy.
SM: How does it feel like giving advice to the governor of the apex bank and how did you handle the pressure, particularly at the height of the economic crisis?
MK: My boss is a very hardworking man and one has to always learn each day how to cope with the high and hectic work-load around his magnetic field. I like challenges and pressurised environments too, so yes, it has been and continues to be exhilarating.
Long after we are gone from the central bank or even from the surface of the earth, I am sure that those who will come after us will see what had to be done as modest efforts to work with everybody else in government in defence of our country from various exogenous and endogenous negative forces.
Personally, I feel very proud that as a team, the RBZ did what it had to do and today, the initially experimental phases of the licensing of shops to sell in foreign currency has become a critical policy of stability under the multi-currency system, which the inclusive government was then to formally adopt early last year.
When I look back a few years ago and reflect on the various fire-fighting missions the RBZ had to do in the face of the heartless sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe, it is gratifying that through its extraordinary survival strategies, the government of Zimbabwe successfully foreclosed and frustrated the doomsday predictions by some international experts that Zimbabwe was going to collapse.
The coming in of the inclusive government has also become another great example of how, as Zimbabweans, we are always able to find one another and choose the path of construction as opposed to the destructive paths that others elsewhere had hoped our leaders would follow.
In my own mind, the inclusive government has, and is, doing an excellent job under very difficult circumstances.
If it was the world cup soccer competition, our case would be one where our team is playing in the field with its members shackled to mill-stones in their waists. Sanctions must, therefore, be removed to let Zimbabwe implement its home grown policies freely.
The diversity of skills and varying specialisations in the leadership our public institutions, in our farms, in our tourism sector, in the banking sector, in rural areas and everywhere else, supported by the vast natural resources we have are all the ingredients we need and we have them to achieve phenomenal growth and development in a sanctions-free environment.
SM: Did you, at any time, consider quitting your job at the central bank?
MK: Not at any point. Being there at the RBZ is a voluntary undertaking that is instructed by an in-built energy and commitment to serve my own country. It is certainly not about money given the current constrained monthly allowances of US$150 being paid from the governor right down to the sweepers. You will agree with me that tobacco farmers do better than this.
The RBZ team is there to play its modest role in discharging the statutory mandate as stipulated in the RBZ Act as a national service calling.
Of course, the day will come when naturally the current team will, of necessity go to rest and let others carry on with the job at hand.
Again, the coming in of the inclusive government has made the workload at the RBZ more lighter as the roles of the RBZ have been narrowed to fewer operational areas. This, coupled with the weekly, and sometimes daily oversight and guidance the governor gets from the Honourable Minister of Finance has greatly improved the work environment where the RBZ team has now reverted back to normal working hours, as opposed to the 24/7 mode that of necessity characterised our diaries prior to March, last year.
As for the constrained pay or allowances, the team remains hopeful that soon, something would be done once conditions in the economy improve, coupled with other revenue-raising initiatives Treasury is considering, given the very limited fiscal space Minister Tendai Biti is working with.
SM: Any plans for the future?
MK: Once I retire from the RBZ, I want to concentrate on farming and management of my other business interests. In terms of personal development, I want to graduate in Law and Medicine one day. Along with this I want to learn oil painting, as well as playing the piano.
That is the road map I want to accomplish, God willing.
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