Stimulating indigenous agribusiness development in Zimbabwe : a concept paper

More recently, however, the GOZ has been somewhat reluctant to privatize further for fear of solidifying the domination of Zimbabwe"s economy by the minority white population and the historical disenfranchisement of the black majority. This paper proposes market-driven options for spurring indigenous private economic growth by promoting small and medium-scale agribusinesses. The paper proposes a model for analyzing the market situation, including pre-production, production, and post-production constraints; the intervention portion of the model deviates from conventional approaches in that its capacity-building components aim at empowering individuals, households, local communities, and small business associations to solve their own problems on a sustainable basis. Empowerment could be accomplished by: creation of viable associations that can influence policy; development of credit unions and savings institutions; provision of training and technical assistance; and development of standards and regulatory instruments. The model is illustrated by application to the horticulture sector; other promising sectors include: oilseed production and processing, general transportation, and rural engineering services. Includes references.