The ManicaPost
Moffat Mungazi
Post Correspondent
WHEN Zimbabwe embarked on the land redistribution exercise at the turn of the millennium, some naysayers were quick to dismiss the move as a political ploy by the Government.
The agrarian reform programme sought to address the colonial injustice of glaring land imbalances.
Keen to reclaim what was rightfully theirs, the gallant sons and daughters of the soil took up arms and waged the war of liberation which culminated in the country’s independence in 1980.
In the year 2000, the mass economic empowerment flight — through the fast-track land reform programme— took off.
Yet in their cynicism, some detractors continued harbouring doubts about this noble initiative.
However,those who went aboard are now enjoying the ride. Along the way, a lot of gains have been made.
Two decades later, Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector continues to grow from strength to strength as other industries feed off it.
Humble beginnings
A Mutasa couple, Mr Landelani Ndlovu and his wife, Fungai, are proud and grateful beneficiaries of the land redistribution programme as they are reaping the benefits. Their only regret is having run a decade late in taking it up.
“We applied for resettlement in 2008 and were allocated a plot in 2009.
“In 2010 we made a family decision to retreat from the city and moved here. At first our children experienced difficulties adjusting to rural life without electricity and fetching water at a village borehole.
“We agreed that I continued in formal employment as we needed to inject capital into our activities and also keep our three children in school.
“My wife was running things at the plot,” said Mr Ndlovu in an interview with The Manica Post during a field day at his plot recently.
Looking back at how they started, Mrs Ndlovu reckons they have come a long away.
“This land was virgin when we first settled here, with mysterious stories being told about it. We also had to grapple with wild animals as hyenas and warthogs would prey on us and our livestock. We remained steadfast and decided against practising cellphone farming.
“We also faced challenges with stray livestock. This is a serious source of conflict among farmers and at one time we had half-a-hectare of our fresh mealies destroyed. Although we have now penned our farm, the fence is vandalised sometimes.
“We have since managed to develop our land into a decent farming plot and home. Through the personal loans we secured from the Rural Electrification Agency and CBZ Bank, we were able to sink a borehole and electrify the place,” she said.
The Ndlovus are making optimum use of their 10 hectares — five of which is arable — in Ward 23 of Mutasa District, popularly known as Magarasadza.
Mr Ndlovu outlined his family’s ambitions in detail.
“Besides crop production, we are also into livestock. At present we are at subsistence level but we are planning to take it to a commercial level.
“We have goats, roadrunners, fish and beehives. We are targeting to have 400 goats on zero grazing. Just like crop farming, these projects do not require large pieces of land to run profitably.
“Our desire is to ultimately go organic and use less chemicals.
“From the small orchard here, we are growing fruits like bananas and lemons. We are also growing cabbages. Very soon we are starting on high-value fruits such as litchis and other cash crops. On the other side, we are going to maintain the adjacent bushland in its natural state in order to retain the ecological balance and be in harmony with nature,” he said.
The family is keen on transforming communities by creating a well-nourished nation, he added.
Mechanisation spurs production
Presently operating at only 40 percent of capacity, Mr and Mrs Ndlovu are eyeing expansion by fully mechanising their plot. This will enable year-round activity at their place and increase productivity.
“Because our country’s economy is firmly anchored in agriculture, farming becomes a strategic business.
“It is a very key and primary industry where others, like the food business, can offshoot from.
“Agriculture also impacts on both the living and non-living.
To do well, however, it requires hard-working and innovative self-starters with clarity of purpose and determination to drive forward.
“Leaving the land lying idle is a recipe for starvation. We, therefore, want to play an active part and contribute in restoring Zimbabwe’s status as the breadbasket of Africa. Communities should be encouraged to exploit local resources for the benefit of its natives. To practise what we preach, villagers from our community get vegetables at affordable prices and at times we donate to local charitable homes. Our overall objective is to feed the nation,” Mr Ndlovu said.
Mrs Ndlovu was full of praise for the Government-initiated programmes.
“Under Pfumvudza, the target is to fill a 20-litre bucket from 56 cobs of shelled maize, but we managed to exceed that by a quarter. From experience, we have also realised that a yield of 10-15 tonnes per hectare is achievable under Command Agriculture. We are very grateful for this scheme. These programmes are not just about the provision of farming inputs, but also ensuring good agronomical practices so as to achieve high yields,” he said.
Due his thriving farming enterprise, Mr Ndlovu has teamed up with an established seed company to produce seed in a development that is set to go a long way in empowering the surrounding community.
He expressed satisfaction with the project’s progress.
The grand plan
With activity in full swing, the couple is now working on increasing productivity.
“We are going to produce wheat as a winter crop under the Command Agriculture programme. Potatoes, beans, watermelons or butter-nuts are ideal for spring. In summer we will grow maize alongside traditional grains and chia seed.
“We are now certified seed producers and have been contracted by Seed-Co to produce commercial seed maize and bean seed. At one point, we did contract farming of Michigan bean and green peas for food processing giant, Cairns Foods.
“Our plan is to install a solar system for alternative and back-up energy because using electricity only is quite expensive. Paying an equivalent of around US$120 a month for electricity, which translates to about five tonnes of maize per year, is a huge challenge.”
Productivity, prosperity and profitability
With the heavens having been generous with the rains and farmers studiously working the land, Zimbabwe has had a successful farming season.
Livelihoods are set for a boon, not only for the enterprising Mutasa family, but every Zimbabwean.
Mrs Ndlovu attributed the expected economic boom to the good rains as well as the innovative and technological transformation in the agricultural sector under the Second Republic.
President Mnangagwa’s administration is championing an evolution of the agrarian revolution. As such, prosperity is inevitable.
“The visionary leadership of President Mnangagwa has opened up a lot of economic space for indigenous people, opportunities which breed prosperity.
“They say success comes about when preparation meets opportunity. We are glad to have taken that preparatory step by acquiring the land and now with opportunities like Command Agriculture and Pfumvudza, we will surely be successful. We feel economically empowered because we now own the primary means of production,” she said.
Zimbabwe is expecting a maize crop yield increase of 199 percent from last year’s harvest, 128 percent for traditional grains and 94 percent for cotton.
Riding on the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1, the country is working towards attaining an upper-middle income status by the year 2030.
This is underpinned by the need for food and nutrition security while accelerating value addition and beneficiation.
The Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy is another vehicle to achieve higher productivity, prosperity and profitability.
“These policies are very sound and are going to take us very far. Monitoring and evaluation should be efficient, with agricultural extension officers being hands-on.
“They must be on the ground through visits to the farming sites.
“Also, the use of technology is a welcome development. To that end, all the targets we are pursuing as a nation will be met,” said
