Unless the government caries out a land audit, whatever programme is suggested will not be a success.
I hear there is some US$38m set aside for some food programme. Yet the machinery, the fuel, the cash and the seed former central bank governor Gideon Gono gave free of charge to so-called farmers have not been accounted for.
Who benefited from Gono's generosity? Where are all those tractors which Gono gave out? How much has been earned from that investment?
It is an open secret that most of the people who lined up to receive all the implements, seeds, fuel and cash from Gono never used them for the benefit of agriculture. A few fallen guys were arrested and paraded in the media for abusing Gono's benevolence.
I also hear that Zimbabwe's agriculture sector is doing well. Yet the country still imports GMOs. If we are indeed doing well and producing enough, why are we importing GMOs to kill the people?
We have a big problem of lying to ourselves. But the reality on the ground checks us out. One such truth is that the majority of people who grabbed land cannot use it. Evidence of this are those acres and acres of barren lands across the country.
The point is that the whites were better farmers. There are blacks who can use the land. Blacks who have the means. And there are those who cannot use the land. It is a fact which we are not prepared to accept. The result is this lie to ourselves.
To make things right, we have to be unkind to our own. Carry out a land audit. Isolate farms according to their previous production records. If there are useless people sitting on productive land and doing nothing, move them to an area where the land is not so productive.
Those who received implements from Gono must pay back. The country needs the money. Start a fund with the money paid by those who received implements. That fund will help new farmers to start.
Revive Arda. Train new farmers. Training is one of the lacking factors in the country. Limit farm occupancy. One man, one farm. Just like one man, one vote.
Let's start from the beginning. We have to start afresh.
I hear there is some US$38m set aside for some food programme. Yet the machinery, the fuel, the cash and the seed former central bank governor Gideon Gono gave free of charge to so-called farmers have not been accounted for.
Who benefited from Gono's generosity? Where are all those tractors which Gono gave out? How much has been earned from that investment?
It is an open secret that most of the people who lined up to receive all the implements, seeds, fuel and cash from Gono never used them for the benefit of agriculture. A few fallen guys were arrested and paraded in the media for abusing Gono's benevolence.
I also hear that Zimbabwe's agriculture sector is doing well. Yet the country still imports GMOs. If we are indeed doing well and producing enough, why are we importing GMOs to kill the people?
We have a big problem of lying to ourselves. But the reality on the ground checks us out. One such truth is that the majority of people who grabbed land cannot use it. Evidence of this are those acres and acres of barren lands across the country.
The point is that the whites were better farmers. There are blacks who can use the land. Blacks who have the means. And there are those who cannot use the land. It is a fact which we are not prepared to accept. The result is this lie to ourselves.
To make things right, we have to be unkind to our own. Carry out a land audit. Isolate farms according to their previous production records. If there are useless people sitting on productive land and doing nothing, move them to an area where the land is not so productive.
Those who received implements from Gono must pay back. The country needs the money. Start a fund with the money paid by those who received implements. That fund will help new farmers to start.
Revive Arda. Train new farmers. Training is one of the lacking factors in the country. Limit farm occupancy. One man, one farm. Just like one man, one vote.
Let's start from the beginning. We have to start afresh.
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