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From Lloyd Gumbo in Concession

Under the prevailing microeconomic and macroeconomic conditions the resettled farmers in Zimbabwe have excelled.

Villagers and land reform beneficiaries in Mashonaland Central have implored Government to reduce farm sizes so that people can be allocated land they can fully utilise in order to guarantee productivity. 

They said there was also need to come up with mechanisms to ensure land reform beneficiaries access loans from financial institutions at low interest rates if they were to be productive.

They said this during the public hearing on the Land Commission Bill at Dandamera Hall in Concession conducted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Lands and Irrigation Development and the Thematic Committee on Peace and Security.

The public hearings are being sponsored by the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust and the United Nations Development Programme.

Zanu-PF Senator for Mashonaland Central, Cde Damian Mumvuri who chairs the committee on Peace and Security chairs the Mashonaland team while Cde Christopher Chitindi (Muzarabani South) chairs the committee in Matabeleland.

Mr Naison Demberere welcomed the Bill but said there was need to enhance productivity.

“People should be given farm sizes that they can fully utilise, instead of giving them huge tracts of land that they cannot utilise,” he said.

“Yes, we took the farms but the results are not satisfactory. We have children who did not benefit from the fast track land reform, yet the land is lying idle because some people were given farms that are too big and they cannot utilise them.”

Mr Demberere who is Mazowe Rural District Council chairperson said once passed into law, the Act should be applicable to everyone not a situation where it is used in a discriminatory manner.

Mrs Alveira Kupfeketa that concurred with Mr Demberere saying women must also be considered when allocating farms.

“Some people have big farms but they are not utilising them. So, we want the law to make it mandatory that one is only given a piece of land that they can fully utilise.

“As women, we should also be protected when we are at the farms because oftentimes, we are pushed out of these farms by other people,” she said.

Another farmer, Mr Sachikoko Mijeni added: “Farm sizes must be reduced although we cannot give specific sizes. When auditors come, they must find out how much land one has been utilising for the past two or so years, if they find that the farmer has been using five hectares out of 40 hectares then they must reduce the farm size to five hectares.”

Mr Leonard Mazorodze welcomed the Bill saying it sought to reduce farm sizes.

Retired Group Captain Daniel Mapfumo Gede, who is a farmer in Mazowe District, said high interest rates make it difficult for farmers to be productive.

“The other problem is that financial institutions are demanding collateral in order to give (us) those loans.

“We want the Bill to capture that farmers can use the farm as collateral security instead of asking them to sell their house in Glen Lorne so that they can be given a loan for agriculture,” he said.

Retired Lieutenant-Colonel and former legislator for Mazowe North Cairo Mhandu said it was important for the Government to expedite allocation of 99-year leases and ensure that they are bankable in order for farmers to access funding.

Retired Colonel and farmer Chriden Kanouruka also bemoaned high interest rates that financial institutions charged.

The committee will be in Hwedza today, Mutare tomorrow and Masvingo on Friday.