GMB Urges Farmers to Use Grain Swap Facility to Boost Household Food Security

GMB urges farmers to use its grain swap facility to improve household food security, promote agro-ecological farming and support Zimbabwe’s strategic grain reserves (image source)

The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has urged farmers to make full use of its grain swap facility, a government-backed initiative designed to strengthen household food security by allowing farmers to exchange crops suited to their agro-ecological zones for grains that are harder to produce locally.

Speaking at the GMB Masvingo Depot, GMB Operations Director Patrick Muzvimbiri said the programme supports the Government’s agro-ecological tailoring strategy, which encourages farmers in drier regions four and five to prioritise traditional grains, while those in higher rainfall areas focus on maize production. Under the scheme, households are permitted to swap one 50kg bag of grain per month on a bag-for-bag basis strictly for household consumption.

Muzvimbiri said the facility ensures families can still access preferred staple grains regardless of regional climatic limitations. He cautioned, however, that the programme is not intended for commercial trading, stressing that it is a food security intervention aimed at stabilising household nutrition.

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He also announced a major expansion of national grain storage infrastructure, revealing plans to increase silo capacity by an additional 784,000 metric tonnes from the current 750,000 metric tonnes. This will raise total national storage capacity to over 1.5 million metric tonnes. The expansion will see the number of silos nationwide grow from 12 to 26, with upgrades planned across all provinces to reinforce the strategic grain reserve.

Highlighting early gains from agro-ecological tailoring, Muzvimbiri cited Makambwe in Chiredzi, which recorded a 25,000-tonne sorghum surplus this season, the highest in the country. He urged farmers, particularly those who had been reluctant to move away from maize production, to embrace crops suited to their natural regions and to utilise the grain swap facility to protect household food security.