‘Give idle land to agric graduates’
HIGHER and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Deputy Minister Dr Godfrey Gandawa has called on the Government to consider parcelling out farms that are lying idle to productive people such as agricultural graduates.
In a post on his official account on Twitter which he referred Sunday News to when contacted for a comment, Dr Gandawa said redistribution of idle farms to productive people would help stimulate production in the agriculture sector and spur economic growth.
He said the beneficiaries of the redistributed land would, however, need to be given capital if they were to successfully contribute towards economic growth.
“If unproductive farms were reduced, redistributed to productive people, making sure every agricultural graduate gets land and capital, we are going to stimulate a redesigned agro-sector for assured food security and economic growth,” he said.
Dr Gandawa noted that there were vast tracts of land lying idle across the country which should be distributed to productive people.
“Please take a survey, you shall see there are vast tracts of land lying idle and if you want to be honest you shall agree,” he said.
Dr Gandawa’s posts ignited an engaging debate among his followers on the social media platform. One Chada Blessing Mutambara asked Dr Gandawa why Government had not moved in that direction, allowing people to sit on land which if used to capacity could catalyse economic growth.
The Deputy Minister responded, “I am sure it will be done. It’s true, we are sitting on an asset that can reconfigure our economy.”
Some of Dr Gandawa’s followers questioned the rationale of his suggestion, arguing that not all graduates in agriculture were good farmers and were interested in the sector.
Chandangwinyi Chose argued, “Doctor, agriculture is an inborn thing, it’s not about graduate but train the same people to become professional farmers.”
Dr Gandawa responded, “Yes, the point you raised that not all graduates are good farmers, is a point but it is pertinent to note that at least they have some knowledge in the area and those willing to be productive can be.”
Dr Gandawa clarified his suggestion, noting that some farms were oversized and needed to be cut, while some people owned multiple farms which they were not using to capacity.
Dr Gandawa’s suggestion comes at a time when the Government is working on repossessing farms from unproductive land reform beneficiaries and redistributing them to land-hungry Zimbabweans to optimise agricultural production.
In June this year the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement Ministry notified 38 farmers, mainly in Mashonaland East, that it will soon revoke offer letters giving them land. According to data from the Lands Ministry there are more than 500 000 applicants awaiting resettlement.
Over 14 million hectares of land has been redistributed to indigenous farmers since 1980. An audit by a Government-appointed committee in 2015 showed that several top State officials, including Cabinet Ministers, have vast swathes of land and some are failing to fully utilise them.