Zimbabwe - Overseas Development Institute

sectors was s t a t i c or else when i t contracted. Third, the
s e v e r i t y of the poor o v e r a l l 1981-83 performance of the manuf
a c t u r i n g sector i s h i g h l i g h t e d p a r t i c u l a r l y , r e v e a l i n g that by
1983 the r a t i o had r i s e n to 17% - a l e v e l i t had not p r e v i o u s l y
achieved since the l a t e 1940s!
Those i n d i c a t o r s r e v e a l i n g perhaps the most s i g n i f i c a n t
changes i n the f o o d s t u f f s sub-sector and i n the food import
dependence of the country as a whole are those f o r long run food
exports, gross output and manufactured food imports. The s t o r y
i s simply and c l e a r l y t o l d i n Figures 16 and 17. In 1938/39,
over 40% of a l l manufactured exports o r i g i n a t e d i n the f o o d s t u f f s
sub-sector. Then, as shown i n Figure 16, t h i s proportion
s t e a d i l y and c o n s i s t e n t l y f e l l over the 25 years to the s t a r t of
the UDI period. The top l i n e , showing the r a t i o of a l l manufactured
food exports to t o t a l manufactured exports, then r i s e s
s l i g h t l y r i s e during the UDI period, h a l t i n g the long term
f a l l i n g trend and h i g h l i g h t i n g the f a c t (also shown i n Figure 14)
that export growth i n the f o o d s t u f f s sub-sector remained s i g ­
n i f i c a n t i n the UDI as i n the Federal period.
The r i s i n g importance of food exports during the UDI period,
however, needs to be treated with some caution. While some
Figure 15. The Ratio of Manufacturing Value Added for the Foodstuffs
Sub-sector to Manufacturing Value Added for the
Manufacturing Sector as a Vhole.
20 -
19 -
18 -
K
T
17 ^ 1 f ° \ !
16 -
o>
c 16 -
14 -
13 -
12 -
<
11 -
10 -
X, 9 -
8 -
• 7 -
n
T)
o 6 -
o
5 -
L.
4 -
3 -
2 -
1 -
1 I 1 ) 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 r 1 I 1 1 1 1 1
38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82
Yoars
Source: As for Table 5, above.