“In the region, a bag of fertiliser is about US$25. In Zimbabwe today, that same bag is US$50,” [newzimbabwe.com reported].
Pupurai Togarepi, a Gutu South legislator, called for a parliamentary investigation into the high cost of cement and fertilizer in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, [NewZimbabwe.com reported]. Togarepi said that local consumers are paying almost double the prices charged in neighbouring countries.
Raising the matter as a point of national interest in Parliament, Togarepi urged Industry and Commerce Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu to issue a ministerial statement explaining the large price differences along the local supply chain, [NewZimbabwe.com reported]. Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda waived the request for an immediate ministerial statement, [NewZimbabwe.com reported].
Togarepi insisted that the issue required urgent attention as farmers prepare for the 2026/27 summer cropping season, with fertilizer remaining one of the biggest input costs for maize and other crops under both the Pfumvudza programme and commercial farming, [NewZimbabwe.com reported].
Togarepi questioned why Zimbabweans were paying substantially more for essential agricultural inputs than consumers elsewhere in the region, [NewZimbabwe.com reported].
“So the difference, I do not understand why we have this. Is it cost-sharing? Are these people carrying costs that we don’t know?” Togarepi told [NewZimbabwe.com].
According to [NewZimbabwe.com reported], the legislator said that Zimbabwe once benefited from fertilizer prices that were competitive both regionally and internationally, and he challenged the viability of local farming under the current pricing model.
“How do our people produce? We already have a high cost of production,” Togarepi told [NewZimbabwe.com].
The price disparities are forcing Zimbabweans to source agricultural inputs from neighbouring countries despite the additional logistical expenses, according to [NewZimbabwe.com].
“That is why we have seen people buying from other countries. Why are they giving us competitive prices to save our people?” Togarepi told [NewZimbabwe.com].
In a call for action, [NewZimbabwe.com reported] that Togarepi requested that Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce conduct a thorough probe into the supply chain—encompassing manufacturing, importation, and distribution—to identify what is driving these price gaps. He argued that even if Zimbabwe imported fertilizer from neighbouring countries, the products would remain cheaper than those available locally, [NewZimbabwe.com reported].
“I don’t know how we can be helped by this Industry Committee if we cannot go to this place and put in our portfolio committee for Industry and Commerce for us to know the justification of these disparities. They are huge,” Togarepi told [NewZimbabwe.com].
Furthermore, [NewZimbabwe.com reported] that the MP expressed alarm over cement prices, noting that they have reached levels that make home construction increasingly out of reach for the average Zimbabwean. He said that Parliament had a responsibility to protect consumers and ensure local manufacturers were not taking advantage of the market, [NewZimbabwe.com reported].
- What specific factors drive fertilizer and cement prices in Zimbabwe to roughly double regional rates?
- How will the Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce investigate the production and distribution value chain?
- What impact will the input cost structure have on farmers participating in the 2026/27 summer cropping season?
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