For the first time in 2 years, diesel now costs more than petrol in Zimbabwe and it is threatening to wipe out farmers’ profits just as they prepare for the summer planting season.

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) last week raised Diesel to US$2.08 a litre, while Blend petrol rose to US$2.06.

This is the second increase in eight days, and the sixth since the US-Iran war shut the Strait of Hormuz in February.

The global link is direct.

Brent crude, which was US$84 in July, shot above US$107 on Monday after Trump rejected Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait within 7 days.

Zimbabwe, which imports all its fuel by road from Beira, is now paying the premium!

The biggest blow is in the fields and even the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has already conceded the same.

“Mechanisation and irrigation, essential for a resilient farming system, are unaffordable for most producers.

Producer prices haven’t kept up”, according to ZFU President Dr Jameson Jawi.

Before the war, diesel was US$1.55/litre.

It is now US$2.08, a 34% jump.

A wheat farmer needs around 115 litres per hectare for tillage and irrigation.

That fuel bill alone has gone from US$174 to US$243 per hectare.

Add ammonium nitrate up 24% and urea up 38%, while the government producer price remains stuck at US$430 per tonne.

Farmers need diesel to run irrigation pumps and tractors for summer land prep, yet the Met Department is forecasting an El Nino drought with below-normal rains for Oct-Dec.

That means farmers will have to irrigate more, using more expensive diesel.

ZFU notes that Zambia and Rwanda face the same global oil price and are also landlocked, yet diesel there is US$1.54 and US$1.51 respectively, 50 cents cheaper.

The difference: taxes and levies (Strategic Reserve Levy, carbon tax, VAT), ethanol blending adding 4-5c, and a concentrated import market where ZERA’s ceiling becomes the floor.

A war in Hormuz is being paid for in Macheke tomato fields and Gweru wheat fields.

As I have always argued when people rush to celebrate former white farmers, more support is needed for the black farmer!

Government should consider temporarily suspending carbon tax and Strategic Reserve Levy on agricultural diesel.

Zambia did it which is why their diesel is US$1.54 vs ours US$2.08.

It can also introduce innovative schemes such as Agric Diesel coupons at US$1.75 for registered farmers, as was done in 2020.

At US$2.08, farming wheat or maize as a single crop for GMB is no longer profitable.

The farmers who survive this season are those farming 1ha of high-value (onion, tomato, sugar beans) under solar, not 10ha of maize under diesel!