No funding for new farmers

Banks are demanding title deeds as security to release fund to resuscitate the country’s collapsed agricultural sector.

Farmers countrywide have been preparing their pieces of land in anticipation of above to normal rainfall but lack of funding to purchase inputs has been a major setback.

Mashonaland West Extension Services Officer, Edna Shambare said most farmers were in a ‘dilemma’ as the cash strapped coalition government has not provided enough inputs and funds for the season.

“Things are not good for our dear farmers as they lack funds to procure inputs, “she said.

Farmers interviewed by ***The Zimbabwean*** said they had no money to fund their agricultural activities.

Finance minister Tendai Biti recently told farmers at a budget consultative meeting in Manicaland that he was against the idea of parcelling out inputs to farmers every season, saying it encouraged a culture of ‘laziness and indiscipline’.

Biti instead advocated that farmers should be empowered with title deeds that would enable them to access bank loans.

However, Zanu (PF) is against the idea opting for 99 year leases, saying it is a ploy by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to snatch back land back to former white commercial farmers through the backdoor.