THE department of land affairs in Northern Province is inviting willing farmers to sell their land to the government for a national project aimed at transferring 30% of arable land to black farmers within 15 years. Provincial land affairs spokesman Phumudzo Makharemedza said on Monday that there is presently insufficient land available in the region for the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) project, which is scheduled to begin in the province in July. “We’re encouraging farmers who want to sell their land to give us first priority so that we can meet demands from emerging black farmers for agricultural land,” said Makharemedza. He said 18 farmers had responded positively to an advert in May calling for land to be sold to the department. “But we need more land because we expect many black farmers to apply when we start implementing the project,” he said. More than 26_000 hectares of land have been restored to dispossessed communities in the province, with 330 land claims being settled. – African Eye News Service