It is unacceptable that government still doesn’t have a clear land reform roadmap 15 years after grabbing commercial farms, says ZCFU interim chairperson Christopher Zinhara.
“All these years have been wasted focusing on land reform and not on productivity. We should have been talking about filling up the reserves of the GMB (Grain Marketing Board) because it’s been too long. We should focus on setting up five, 10, 15 year targets,” he said. “The country cannot continue to record an average production of 800 kg per hectare of maize against maximum potential of 18 tonnes over a decade after the land reform.”
In 2000 Zimbabwe produced 3,7 million tonnes of output (excluding estate-grown sugar). In 2012, the Finance Ministry estimated output at less than half that (1,7 million tonnes) with the 2013 season recording a 20 percent fall in plantings that resulted in much lower yields.
Food and livestock production (excluding beef) collapsed from three million tonnes in 2000 to 1,3 million tonnes in 2012, with cereal output down 55 percent at 1,1 million tonnes. ZCFU is of the view that government has spent too much time focusing on re-allocating and dispossessing farmers of their land.
The sector has recently been hit by a fresh wave of black to black farm invasions, while those previously settled have been threatened with eviction. It is against this backdrop that ZCFU is demanding finalisation of the land reform process. “This has to be settled. If they have to be there then they have to be given paperwork and if they are not supposed to be there, they must be moved,” said Zinhara.
Post published in: News