By Kuda Pembere
Zimbabwe has begun working on the data harmonization of the feed and fodder value chain through the creation of a data ecosystem.
With the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development (MoLAFWRD), the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat), researchers and the private sector having the data synchronised to facilitate evidence driven policies.
Speaking on the sidelines of an Africa Union InterAfrica Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems (RAFFS) meeting held in Harare, the organization’s Data and Information Systems expert Leonard Muganda said during the week they have been coming up with critical indicators for data collection and analysis.
“It is so important to note that most of the challenges that have faced the farmers and the entire value chain has been the lack of data and data affects the whole value chain all the way to even supporting policy.
“So, we feel that this is a good opportunity for us to engage and putting our minds together to come up with a better mechanism for developing a feed and fodder data ecosystem that is specific to Zimbabwe needs. We are going to come up with the approaches and modalities on how we are going to collect data,” he said. “We’ve in this workshop been able to identify the critical indicators, narrowing on the priorities that each value chain actor has. In this process, we intend to link and map all our efforts and what the data needs to inform to specific sources of data that can now be made or provided by the various value chain actors and therefore inform how we are going to model the data ecosystem.”
He said they will have a dashboard which is expected to be completed by June next year. Muganda and the data ecosystem team visited Zimstat to find ways of engagement for its development.
“We were basically on a mission to share experiences and share ideas among the various feed and fodder value chain actors.
“It was an opportunity for those who are involved in this value chain actors also benefit from the efforts that have been put forth by the ministry and even the Zimstat as one of the main agencies that deals with the national statistics.
“Our interest was to understand the infrastructure arrangements that have been put in place by the ministry and even the Zimstat which is a competent authority that focuses on national data,” he said. “And find a way in which we can build synergy in getting data that can be harmonized and accessed centrally and also even validated through approaches and mechanisms that are approved by the authority.”
Director of Livestock Production and Development in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development (MoLAFWRD) Sithokozile Sibanda said the El-Nino induced drought was a learning curve for Zimbabwe which has prompted Government and other stakeholders in the feed and fodder value chain to map the amount to be invested in the sector.
“Right now the multi-stakeholder platform of Zimbabwe is involved in those numbers.They are sizing the market in terms of how much money is needed, how much fodder is needed, how many animals we have,” she said.
