The year just ended will go down as one of the worst in this country’s history. Nothing moved. The economy, agriculture and politics were all stagnant if not declining. The only things that went up were on the negative side. These included prices, inflation and the number of people affected by Aids.
At the beginning of the year, everyone was optimistic that the economy would pick up due to the Economic Structural Adjustment Program which officials said was going to work although there would be some initial hardships.
The first jolt was when the country ran out of maize. The country was caught with its pants down. All efforts were diverted to procuring food and for some months, the question of survival dominated the country’s politics. Food queues which at times threatened to break into violence became a common feature for the first time. Scapegoats had to be found. Blame was shoved on to some politicians whose mistake had been done years ago and could therefore have been rectified in the intervening period.
Calls for the reduction of the cabinet and the size of bureaucracy were overshadowed by calls for immediate food deliveries. The redistribution of the land was also sidelined as the quest to ensure that agriculture was brought back to the forefront took the lead. Three producer prices were announced within a space of three to four months. And in the end, disaster was avoided but at a cost. Price became the determinant factor with most people failing to afford things that were available in abundance.
While farmers have assured the nation that they will produce enough for the nation, it is too early to tell if they will succeed. It is only perhaps after early next year that the people will know the true situation since most of the farming is rainfed.
While some farmers have already planted the early crop the rains have so far been patchy. Everyone, though, is aware that should the nation have another poor agricultural season, it could be catastrophic. Most of the rural and urban poor can no longer afford to buy the basic foodstuffs available on the shelves. They will therefore have to supplement with what they themselves can produce if they are to survive.
Coupled with the drought, which most people had believed would not be as severe as it turned out to be, was the drop in business confidence. The economy was battered left, right and centre. The stock exchange that has risen up to over 2 700 points started plummeting to below 1 000. Although the World Bank insists the country is still on the right path in terms of the ESAP it is sponsoring, the gross domestic product has declined by 11 percent. This, of course, is largely attributed to drought but some analysts believe even if there had been a normal season, things would not have been any better except for the food import bill. Agricultural production overall went down by 40 percent.
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