Tapiwanashe Mangwiro

The Agriculture Marketing Authority (AMA) is seeking to transform the Agriculture Marketing Fund into a more active financing vehicle for Zimbabwe’s agricultural value chains, with the authority pushing for levies collected from the sector to be channelled back into production, infrastructure and market development.

Speaking at the National Agriculture Conference and Expo (NACE) 2026, AMA chief executive officer Alice Mapfiza said the Agriculture Marketing Fund, established under the AMA Act [Chapter 18:24], provides a framework through which resources generated within the agricultural sector can be mobilised and reinvested into the sector.

“Agriculture is the backbone of national food security and value chain funding is limited, and we all know it because we have been talking about it,” Mapfiza said.

“The AMA Act allows funds, it allows fees, it allows levies to come through that fund so that it is consolidated to finance and support all value chains in agriculture.”

The Agriculture Marketing Fund receives levies collected by AMA from producers, buyers and processors, with the authority already collecting levies from several agricultural value chains.

According to Mapfiza, the objective is to ensure that the resources support production, productivity, market access and linkages, rather than simply being collected without a direct connection to the development of the sectors from which they originate.

The AMA Act provides for the Fund to be financed through levies, appropriations and other approved sources, while its resources can be applied towards the development and marketing of agricultural products.

AMA has developed a fund management and governance framework under which administration costs are capped at 10% of funds collected, according to Mapfiza.

She said allocations would be informed by industry technical committees representing individual value chains before being considered by the Agriculture Marketing Fund management structures.

“This is done through the industry technical committee for each value chain, which then feeds into the agriculture marketing fund management committee,” she said.

The proposed framework places emphasis on transparency, market-driven decision-making, equitable distribution, public reporting and independent monitoring and evaluation.

Mapfiza said the resources could support production, market and trade facilitation, infrastructure development, quality and standards, innovation, climate and risk management, farmer empowerment, value addition and export promotion.

A key part of the proposed model is the revival of agricultural financing instruments backed by predictable receipts flowing into the fund.

AMA is looking at using levies and fees, alongside potential seed capital from Government, development partners and syndicated funding from banks, to create financing structures for individual value chains.

“We need predictable receipts to come through the AMA so that when the monies flow into AMA, people will not question to say, where will the money come from?” Mapfiza said.

She said value-chain participants would need to agree on how the fund should be used, with farmers, processors, traders and other players participating in the process.

“The industry, like I said, needs to, from the farmer to the processor, to say, why do we need this fund? All of us need to be in agreement. And what does it deliver?” she said.

The authority is also seeking to demonstrate the practical application of the fund through projects such as irrigation development.

Mapfiza said resources raised through levies were already being directed towards irrigation development, with up to 35 irrigation schemes either completed or at various stages of implementation.

The broader ambition is for the Agriculture Marketing Fund to become a mechanism through which resources generated by agricultural activity are continuously reinvested into the sector.

“Every dollar collected from the sector should be reinvested into its growth, benefiting farmers, processors, traders, consumers, and the nation at large,” Mapfiza said.

The initiative comes as AMA continues to reposition itself beyond its traditional regulatory role towards market coordination and agricultural value-chain development.

The authority describes its mandate as covering the regulation, development and administration of agricultural production and marketing.

The AMA leadership has also identified the need for a more market-oriented agricultural system, with Mapfiza previously describing the authority’s role as moving towards being a strategic market intelligence hub, value-chain coordinator and catalyst for agricultural transformation.