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Zimbabwe’s agriculture is set for a major boost following a decision by the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe to accept 99-year land leases as collateral after Government made adjustments to the document. Until now, holders of 99-year leases could not use them to access funding from financial institutions who argued the document did not qualify as collateral, until Government added clauses to make it bankable.

Now that those adjustments have been done, we expect to see banks coming out in full force to support the agriculture sector.
Banks have been setting aside funds for farmers through their agr0-business divisions, but very few were able to access them due to lack of collateral as the 99-year leases were not considered acceptable security.

The few farmers who accessed funding surrendered title deeds of their houses and other immovable property, with the majority losing their property after failing to repay the loans owing to various reasons associated with the uncertainty of the agriculture sector.

From meetings held so far between Government and BAZ, indications are that farmers could start borrowing against their leases from as early as the end of this month.
It is not in dispute that our agricultural sector has been crying out loud for funding and that production levels reached so far were achieved under very difficult conditions. With very little support coming from the banks, Government went it alone to ensure farmers made productive use of their land.

The Presidential Well Wishers Inputs Scheme championed by President Mugabe came as a huge relief to the cash-strapped farmers although it was inadequate. Under the scheme, 1,6 million households countrywide benefited from the scheme.

Maize production went up to 1,4 million tonnes from just over 750 000 tonnes the previous season, the increase being driven by the Presidential Well Wishers Inputs Scheme and the contribution from contract farming.

We are optimistic that with the full involvement of banks, coupled with the existing input schemes, nothing can stop the agricultural sector rebounding to levels that restore the country’s position as the bread basket of Southern Africa.

Illegal sanctions and lack of support from banks had turned Zimbabwe into a net food importer, relying heavily on imports yet only a few decades ago we were able to export.
Our people are farmers and given the necessary inputs support they can never fail to produce. Farming is certainly part of our people’s DNA and the years of under-production were due to lack of support from financial institutions.

There is no way farmers can be productive without financial support from various sources. It becomes even a higher mountain to climb to imagine people using land productively and taking farming as a business without funding. Farming is too involving and needs a lot of resources for the farmer to be able to make a profit from the venture.

Funding makes farming enjoyable as a business in that farmers are able to buy adequate inputs required per every hectare of land. A hectare needs to be fed adequately to achieve good yields and consequently for the nation to attain national food security. That can only be possible if A2 farmers, the majority of whom are holders of 99-year leases, start using the document to borrow from the banks.

We applaud the efforts of Government, through the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement, Dr Douglas Mombeshora and the banking sector, represented by BAZ, for taking matters of national interest ahead of everything else.

When we talk of agriculture, we are talking of the backbone of the economy. It is not in dispute at all that several other sectors depend on agriculture and that its collapse affects many sectors as aptly captured by the saying that “when the agriculture sector catches a cold, the whole economy sneezes”.

We are happy that the efforts taken by the Government and BAZ to make the 99-year leases bankable and be used as collateral will, without any doubt, extricate our agriculture sector from the cold and let our economy breathe without difficulty once more.