Ways Forward? Technical Choices, Intervention Strategies and Policy Options 371by such measures have differed considerably between countries, as have some of
the impacts. For example, Mali was one of the first countries in Africa to engage in
structural adjustment from 1982 onwards, whereas Ethiopia has only recently
begun to cut back on fertilizer subsidies. Overall, structural adjustment measures
have led to the rising cost and reduced availability of chemical fertilizer, cutbacks
in extension services and changes to crop marketing structures. However, while
some farmers (such as those engaged in cash cropping, and those who depend on
extension advice) have felt the impacts of such changes fairly immediately, others
have been less closely affected because of their greater autonomy.
In Zimbabwe, the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) was
introduced in 1991, resulting in changes to marketing, provision of services and
input–output prices. These have brought about a major shift in use of inputs and
choice of crops, leading to diversification and modifications to land use manage-
ment (Government of Zimbabwe, 1998). The impact of ESAP was particularly
harsh since its implementation coincided with the severe drought of 1991–1992,
during which a high proportion of livestock died. Hence, for example, farmers in
the drier area of Chivi lost 60 per cent of their cattle holdings, drastically cutting
the availability of manure for maintenance of soil fertility. As a result, Chivi farm-
ers have greatly reduced capacity to maintain soil fertility and must concentrate
the limited amounts available on their most important crops. The liberalization of
grain marketing means that farmers are no longer obliged to sell their maize at a
fixed price to the Grain Marketing Board, which now just sets a floor price at
which it can constitute essential stocks in case of future shortage (FSRU, 1998). As
a result, farmers are exposed to potential gains, but also risks associated with the
private trading sector. Private traders are now starting to engage in provision of
inputs to farmers for particular crops, thereby establishing an alternative input and
marketing channel. Contracts with traders are of greater importance in the higher-
potential Mangwende for cotton and vegetables, but, even in Chivi, some farmers
are now regularly growing peppers and other vegetables for purchase by traders. In
general, less grain is now being grown, with farmers resorting to vegetable garden-
ing which has higher returns per hectare (FSRU, 1998). Limited nutrient inputs
are focused on gardens in homefields, or those being established along river banks.
With fewer livestock available, there has been a return for many to hoe agriculture,
and greater attention paid to incorporation of plant matter within ridge and
mounding systems.
Zimbabwean farmers’ perceptions of the ESAP are mixed, as might be expected,
depending on their access to resources and the opportunities they can gain from
changes in prices and markets. In Chivi, farmers’ perceptions are universally nega-
tive:
Those who are richer get richer, and those who are poor become poorer... ESAP is like
AIDS – it kills you slowly, but surely... farmers cannot benefit fully from market liber-
alization because the markets fix prices at levels which are disappointingly low... (FSRU,
1998, p458)