Zimbabwe: Farmers Need Land Tenure to Feel Secure - Committee

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) November 1, 2006 11/06/2006

FARMERS should be given land tenure for them to feel secure and confident to produce enough for the country, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Resettlement, Rural Resources and Water Development said yesterday. During a meeting to discuss land use and tenure in Zimbabwe yesterday, chairman of the committee, Masvingo South Member of House of Assembly Cde Walter Mzembi (Zanu-PF) said currently there was no firm position with regards to land tenure and banks were not forthcoming with loans where there was no collateral. "We don't have a firm position on land tenure. Land leases farmers have give the lender only an address and not the security they require when one wants to borrow some money," he said. Cde Mzembi said most farmers were abandoning producing the staple maize crop in favour of wheat that was selling at $217 000 per tonne compared to $31 000 a tonne for maize. He said the Government should consider a bonus review of the maize price to encourage more production. "We have hit 480 000 tonnes for the Strategic Grain Reserve against a target of 1,8 million tonnes and that is worrying. As a committee, we can't pretend that all is well. The right incentives should be brought to farmers," he said. Cde Mzembi said there was grave concern on the decline in production of cash crops such as tobacco that used to bring as much as US$800 million a season. He said the citrus, tea and coffee sectors have also declined over the years due to neglect. "Those were very vibrant industries but all you hear now is veld fires," he said. Mangwe Member of House of Assembly Mr Edward Mkosi (MDC) said property rights were important if agricultural production was to increase. He said the Government should put incentives in place for farmers to get reasonable returns. "We should persuade the Government to put incentives. The current price of maize is 'peanuts'. Farmers are going to move away from maize production," he said. Chief Revai Chiduku of Manicaland said more farmers were moving away from growing maize for other cash crops that had better returns. Chiredzi North legislator Cde Margaret Pote said the harassment of capable farmers especially at sugar plantations must be stopped considering that some new farmers were struggling to produce. "A lot of fields have died in the Lowveld. It seems the Ministry of Agriculture is not getting enough information about what is happening in the Lowveld. Things have gone down," she said. Stakeholders have been calling upon the Government to amend the Land Acquisition Act to ensure that apart from land, the infrastructure and equipment on any farm acquired for resettlement is transferred to the ownership of new farmers to ensure maximum production. Infrastructure such as tobacco barns, water and electricity points, horticultural utilities and irrigation equipment, among other things, had been at the centre of many disputes in farming areas. Enditem