Hon. Sen. Mkwebu, thank you very much for your support. You are very right that this is basically targeting livestock mainly cattle, goats and sheep. If a person has got his cattle and wants to borrow fertilizer inputs, it should be made possible and generally as you know in our Presidential Input Scheme, we are just talking about two bags – one bag AN, one bag compound D and 10kg seed. Now, the total of that is something like maybe US$65 to US$70. If we have farmers who have two or three beasts to borrow that, they will know that they can pay the money back. That is basically what we are just thinking about. Let us leverage the asset that we have to create more wealth. That is what is behind this Bill.
Hon. Sen. Khumalo, thank you very much for again supporting the Bill. You raised the issue about people who are disabled that, will they also benefit – clearly, yes. I see no problem and this is why we need to have that survey so that we are able to know what numbers we are talking about for sound policy formulation.
Hon. Sen. Chipanga, thank you very much for supporting the Bill. If I may take this opportunity Madam President, to explain what we are seeking to do. For example, in the horticulture we are going to come up with a command horticulture, not just for local consumption but also for exports. We have the advantage here in that we are a non-GMO country, non-GMO food has very good natural taste. GMO food has no taste and worldwide there is a scramble to buy non-GMO food across the board. So, we should exploit that situation in order to basically increase our exports in horticulture and any agricultural products. It is very key and for that of course, we need irrigation to boost our production.
I am happy to say that we will soon be announcing command irrigation, not just for communal, A1, A2, institutions such as prisons which has land, ARDA and so on. We want to push in a very strong way irrigation development. We should never be in a situation where we cry when there is drought. This past season has shown that God loves us. If we do not take advantage of the gifts that we receive from the Almighty, it is not His problem. It is the problem of His people – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] –
Hon. Sen. Timveos, thank you very much. Of course, the collateral will include furniture but I would respectfully ask that you do not give your bed. Use the refrigerators, dining room suites, lounge suites as collateral but please do not offer your beds. However, it covers everything. You can actually offer the bed, this is just family advice.
Hon. Sen. Tawengwa, you want to know whether there is a ceiling. No, it is really a relationship between you and the lender and whether he is satisfied with the collateral that you are offering. If the lender is satisfied for whatever amount, a deal will be struck. You made reference to the Pinyoro and so on. What we are doing here is to provide a legal framework that is transparent to both the lender, the borrower and the public, which Pinyoro was not. So, it is quite an improvement from previous systems.
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