Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe have been warned that the government will repossess farms that are not being fully utilised, Harare’s Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Its website quoted Mashonaland East provincial Governor Ray Kaukonde as saying: ”We will not hesitate to remove farmers who are not utilising water in the dams and mechanised equipment in the production of wheat.”
He said a considerable number of farmers in the province were allocated properties endowed with dams, boreholes and agricultural equipment, which they are not utilising to benefit the nation.
Mashonaland East aims to plant at least 15 000ha of winter wheat, an increase of 5 000ha from last season’s target.
”We want all our farmers to produce because we want to avoid importing wheat. Reliance on imports means we will forever be importing inflation,” Kaukonde said.
He noted that the government’s land-reform programme could have benefited the wrong people.
Kaukonde also bemoaned the virtual collapse of the beef industry in the province, saying the Cold Storage Company abattoir in Marondera is lying idle because farmers are not selling their cattle for slaughter.
”We want to resuscitate the industry in the traditional beef-cattle districts of Hwedza and Chikomba. Farmers should take advantage of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe support scheme on livestock restocking,” he said. — Sapa