Source: ‘Stop farm invasions’ | The Herald December 30, 2016
Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter —
Government has ordered people to stop fresh farm occupations as they scare away investors eyeing the agriculture sector.
Presenting the 2017 National Budget recently, Finance and Economic Development Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said farmers should instead of invading land, concentrate on increasing production to ensure national food security.
“With the Fast Track Land Reform having been concluded, there is need to cease further farm invasions to allow existing farmers to focus on production,” he said.
Continuous land invasions threaten existing farmers and scare away potential on-farm investment, that way undermining the restoration of the country’s bread basket status.
“There is disappointment on non-utilisation of the vast tracts of land under most Government institutions, which requires urgent attention, given food security concerns.
He said Government was encouraging joint ventures to ensure maximum utilisation of land and increase food production.
Parastatals are now being encouraged to venture into partnerships to ensure maximum use of land.
“The requirement for increased utilisation of idle agriculture land has seen the Agricultural Rural Development Authority targeting to increase utilisation of land from 15 832 hectares to 43 547 hectares for both crop and livestock production during 2017, through joint venture partnerships”, said Minister Chinamasa.
“Similarly, with regards to other institutional farms belonging to Prisons, the Defence Forces and the Police, a total of 5 410 hectares have been contracted to produce maize under Command Agriculture. This is over and above other initiatives being implemented in conjunction with selected partners.”
Meanwhile, Government has paid $56,8 million since the adoption of the multi-currency system to white former commercial farmers for compensation for land acquired during the land reform programme.
“Government remains committed to honouring its obligations with regards to farms acquired under the Land Reform Programme, said Minister Chinamasa.
“In this regard, since the adoption of the multi-currency system, Government has paid a total of $56,8 million.”
Minister Chinamasa said agricultural production required long-term investment, which was compensated for by long pay-back periods.
He urged farmers to fully utilise their land, saying there was need for meaningful investment to anchor increased agricultural productivity.
COMMENTS
The zpf thieves will never stop stealing the farms as long as they can loot the assets on the farms.
They claim to have paid some money (a pittance) to those they stole the farms from. How will they repay those who they murdered?
This is like saying “People must stop robbing banks and instead earn their own money. It’s scaring away depositors.”
They should never have allowed farm invasions in the first place.
So they have paid out $58 million to displaced farmers – that’s to 58 farmers, what about the other 3500 farmers?
If you drive on the BYO to HRE road, you will only see about a total of 4 productive farms. The rest is either overgrown bush or grassland area. What a complete disaster – but anyway, that’s what ZanuPf and their boss wanted. Good luck to them. Zimbabwe will be importing food for the next 100 years.
Chinamasa, Made, Mugabe, Scoones and all the looters from Zanu can only be rated in the genius category when it comes to agricultureral politics! Scoones’ talents in particular are wasted in Zimbabwe. He really needs to go to the USA and Australia who export millions of tonnes of food and grain – and carry out his FTLRP there. Australia and the USA could also have a Zanu type agricultural system which is the envy of the world we are told!. Zimbabwe could then export the grain to feed the world! The Zanu Scoones FTLRP needs to be implemented around the world now – it really is the work of Irving legends! A tour of Zimbabwe by world agriculturalists is needed to uphold the high reputation of Scoones, Zanu and the University of Sussex! Zimbabwe has become a world agricultural icon under the Scoones-Zanu stewardship!
Why stop invasions when the Zanu Scoones dispensation in agriculture is the envy of the world and rated as world class by the IDC at the University of Sussex? Scoones and Zanu developed this wonderful model.
Zanu. Sussex University and Scoones should really take their wonderful model to the USA and Australia – a Fast Track Land Reform Programme implemented by Scoones in these countries would be a howling success like Zimbabwe. We shall be arranging international tours of the FTLRP to world agriculturalists to enhance the reputation of Zanu, Sussex University and Scoones. Agriculturalists love to see progress and Scoones and Zanu are world leaders in the FTLRP field – and the immense down steam benefits to the people and the economy. One of the greatest benefits is the strengthening of the currency which Dr. Gono and the new RBZ Guy can tale credit for. The Zimbabwe Dollar is the envy of the world. Gono is a world rated economist.
Stopping farm invasions is very silly. We have done a wonderful job with the farm invasions.
Invasion is the wrong word – surely theft in broad daylight is more appropriate!
It’s a model that should be employed the world over – who would ever be hungry and in poverty!
ZANU have taken the whole lot and destroyed it.
Why stop them now?
We might just as well be a waste land.
The drive from Harare to Byo indeed exposes the folly of ZPF’s land grab, amongst a zillion other tragedies under the rule of these misguided people.
That drive under Smith was a totally different experience, with beautiful well maintained land almost all the way.
No one owns up to the fact that the hated bob approached the RFU(ZFU) on land redistribution and they laughed him out of court, three times.
It was their land, after-all.
From the Limpopo to the Zambezi and the Western borders to the Eastern Highlands.
Yeah right, the black dude didn’t count for anything.
Bottom line is the land fiasco/farm invasions is firmly at the door of the white farmers and Bobo.
Whats up, Mr Editor?
Don’t like my posts?
Thought that was Bobo’s domain?
The drive along Harare Byo road was indeed beautiful, with well maintained farms almost all the way.
It’s now a very sad reflection of the past, with evidence galore of Mugabe’s mismanaged land reform.
The land is now in the hands of thieving morons who couldn’t tell the back end of a plough from a cow.
Had the white farmers listened to Bob about land redistribution, on three occasions I might add, the story would have been very different
Blame the Whites. That has been the excuse for more than 30 years. Rinse and repeat for the next 30 years.
The Zimbabwean Shona male is a lazy blaggart and a rank coward. You deserve what you got.